


make a wish

by summers-maclay-lehane (ofstormsandwolves)



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Rewrite, Character Death Fix, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27229600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofstormsandwolves/pseuds/summers-maclay-lehane
Summary: Before Willow and Xander cheated, before Cordelia got hurt, before Spike was left by Drusilla, and Anyanka answered Cordelia’s call, Buffy Summers made a wish...Or, long before knowing what Vengeance Demons are, Buffy inadvertently summons Anyanka and gets a second chance...(Season 2 rewrite)
Relationships: Jenny Calendar/Rupert Giles
Comments: 31
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

Standing beside Giles at Jenny’s grave, Buffy realised two things. The first was that she was finally ready to take down Angelus. Ms. Calendar’s death had proven to her that the man she loved no longer existed. Ms. Calendar hadn’t just been killed; she’d been used as the centrepiece in a macabre work of art designed specifically to torture Giles. That wasn’t Angel’s doing. Angel was gone, and nothing could bring him back.

The second thing she realised was that she desperately wanted to take everything back. She wanted a do-over. A second chance. She wanted to make things right.  


She left Giles in the cemetery, sensed he needed space. And frankly, so did she. Buffy had seen a lot since becoming the Slayer, but things had never seemed to hit quite so close to home before. Even losing Merrick hadn’t felt like this. When Merrick had died, it had affected Buffy and the Watchers Council, but nobody else. It was almost abstract in that respect. But Ms. Calendar had people grieving for her. Ms. Calendar’s death wouldn’t be swept aside and forgotten the way Merrick’s had. 

Angelus had killed Ms. Calendar. And that had hurt everyone. It had hurt Giles, and Willow, and Buffy. It had hurt Xander and Cordelia by sending a very clear message; Angelus was going to take them all down. He could hurt them, and he would enjoy it, and then he would leave their corpses for their friends and family to find.

Arms wrapped around herself, Buffy made her way back to Revello Drive. Only a few hours ago the worst thing Angelus had done was tell Joyce about Buffy sleeping with him. Now, that seemed tiny. Insignificant. Buffy sniffled.

What if she hadn’t slept with him that night? What if she’d really gone to Willow’s house, like she’d told her mom she was doing? One decision had ruined everything. How could things be so fragile?

Her cheeks were wet, and Buffy wiped at her face. She didn’t want to field any questions from her mom about why she was crying. Of course Joyce knew about Ms. Calendar. But Buffy really wasn’t up for talking about it.

She never wanted to talk about it again, given half the chance. But she knew the universe probably wouldn’t be so kind.

* * *

When Buffy got home, she went straight up to bed. Joyce watched her go with a worried expression, and it was almost an hour later that she finally checked in on Buffy.

“How are you, honey?” Joyce asked, seating herself on the edge of Buffy’s bed.

Her voice was soft, concerned, and Buffy scowled. She didn’t deserve that softness or that concern. Jenny Calendar was dead because of her.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Buffy said, and rolled over so her back was to her mom. She heard Joyce sigh, but the older woman didn’t move.

“I know this must be tough,” Joyce said, “and I understand that you might be struggling. I know how much you like Mr Giles, and to see him upset at losing his friend-”

Buffy let out a strangled sob at that, cutting Joyce off. Her mom didn’t get it, had no idea what had really happened, and there was no way Buffy could ever tell her. 

“Oh, honey,” Joyce sighed, rubbing her daughter’s back.

Buffy sobbed again. “It’s my fault, Mom! It’s all my fault!”

Joyce shifted on the bed then, moving to smooth Buffy’s hair back from her face as she leaned over to meet her eyes. “Sweetheart, it’s not-”

“It is!” Buffy interrupted loudly, sniffing. “It’s my fault Ms. Calendar’s dead, and there’s no way I can make it right! I just want to fix it, Mom!”

“Honey,” Joyce said again, and she was starting to sound worried, “I really don’t understand where you’ve got this idea from, but you’re not responsible for that teacher dying. Please, just try and calm down sweetie, and get some sleep.”

Joyce stood then, and tucked the covers around Buffy before kissing her on the forehead. “I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”

* * *

When Buffy woke the next morning, she really didn’t feel much better. Her eyes felt all funny from crying so much, and she didn’t even want to risk looking at her reflection. She got up and dressed for the day, hardly speaking even as her mother urged her to eat breakfast when she arrived in the kitchen.

Joyce surveyed her over the rim of her coffee mug with a small frown, taking in her daughter’s tired eyes and lack of makeup. “Are you sure you’re alright going into school, sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” Buffy said quietly.

But Joyce looked unconvinced. “I could call you in sick?” she suggested. “Honestly, I don’t know why Principal Snyder doesn’t think you may need time off.” She frowned. “Then again, there are an awfully high number of deaths in that school...”

Buffy rolled her eyes and slipped off the stool at the breakfast bar to head out into the hall. Joyce followed.

“I’ll drive you in,” Joyce said gently as Buffy moved to grab her school bag.

* * *

The drive to school was silent, and Buffy didn’t go straight to the library when she arrived, didn’t want to see Giles’s face. She didn’t even understand how he could bear to look at her, knowing that she’d been the reason Ms. Calendar was dead. 

Instead, Buffy wandered through the courtyard aimlessly, waiting for the bell to ring.

“Hello.”

Buffy blinked, and looked up to see a brunette girl smiling at her. She didn’t recognise the girl, and looked around to see if she was talking to someone else. She wasn’t. Buffy gave a hesitant smile back.

“Hi,” the Slayer said awkwardly.

“I’m Anya,” the girl said, thrusting a hand out to Buffy.

Shaking the girl’s hand a little uncomfortably, Buffy smiled tightly. “Buffy.”

“Nice to meet you, Buffy,” Anya said, and the girl’s smile was starting to become a little bit creepy. “I’m new here, and I was looking for some people to hang out with. I don’t suppose I could...?”

She trailed off pointedly, and Buffy realised what the girl was hinting at.

“Oh, I’m sure you’re lovely and all, but I’m not sure you’d want to hang around with me,” Buffy said awkwardly. “Principal Snyder kind of has it in for me, thinks I’m a troublemaker.”

Anya seemed to consider that for a moment. “And are you? A troublemaker?”

Buffy shrugged uncomfortably at that, studying her shoes for a moment. “Maybe?” she said eventually, meeting Anya’s gaze with a small, sad smile. “A lot of bad things happen around me, that’s for sure. Not all of them are my fault, but some of them are. And sometimes people get hurt, or...” She shook herself, forced a bigger smile at Anya.

Anya looked at the blonde doubtfully. “Are you sure you don’t need a friend?” she asked. “Because you sound like you need someone to talk to.”

Buffy blinked. “Oh, I have friends,” she told the other girl quickly. “I’m just... Avoiding them.” She winced. “I kinda... I went through a bad breakup recently, and my ex... Well, let’s just say he’s not the guy I thought he was. He tried to hurt my friends, and he’s pretty intent on telling me just how much I’m beneath him, so...” Trailing off uncomfortably, Buffy shrugged.

With a small, sympathetic smile, Anya looped an arm around Buffy’s shoulders. “Oh, I’ve seen my share of terrible exes. Wanna talk?”

She started leading Buffy across the courtyard then, and Buffy went willingly. The Slayer didn’t understand why, but it felt so much easier talking about everything to Anya instead of Willow or Xander. Maybe it was because Anya could be objective, because Angelus had never hurt her. Maybe it was because admitting to Willow and Xander that she’d screwed up felt like it meant she was a terrible friend for not stopping things sooner.

“I suppose it was just normal stuff, you know?” Buffy said with a small frown as Anya led them to a bench. “I mean, he was older than me, he’s probably dated hundreds of women. And... And I knew that.” She paused, considered what she could tell Anya without freaking the girl out. “He’d done some bad stuff in his past, stuff that he’s moved on from. So when we... You know...”

“Had sexual intercourse?” Anya asked loudly.

Buffy flushed, and looked around. Thankfully, people either hadn’t heard or didn’t care. “Yeah,” Buffy confirmed quietly. “That.” She sighed. “Anyway, after we’d... Slept together, he... Changed. I suddenly saw what he used to be like, how he was in his past.”

“Let me guess,” Anya said with a knowing smile, “he’s a monster?”

Buffy swallowed. “Something like that. He talked about me like I was, was beneath him, like he’s so much better than me. And now he’s making a game out of hurting my friends and family just to get to me.”

Anya rubbed Buffy’s back in a reassuring manner, and smiled softly at her.

“I just... I wish I could make things right, you know?” Buffy said with a small frown, staring at her nail polish. “I wish I could go back and, and not sleep with him, and maybe then everything would be ok.”

She glanced over at Anya then, and nearly jumped as she took in Anya’s face. It looked raw and vein-y, and everything about her screamed _demon_.

A cruel grin spread across Anya’s face. “Done.”

* * *

Buffy wasn’t entirely sure what had happened after Anya’s- the _demon’s_ \- face had gone all funny, but when she could finally see again, the first thing that struck her was that she wasn’t wearing the clothes she’d left the house in. They were _her_ clothes, but not the ones she’d put on that morning. She didn’t even remember the last time she’d been wearing this new outfit.

With a frown on her face, Buffy set off determinedly across the courtyard. She had to find Giles, or Willow, or Xander. They had to go into research mode, and fast. 

But the library was a bust, and so Buffy began searching the halls. She’d made it halfway up a flight of stairs before her friends’ voices drifted down to her, and she was relieved to see Willow and Xander appear at the top of the stairs.

“Hey, Buff,” Xander greeted with a grin.

Buffy smiled back a little uncertainly. “Hey,” she greeted. “So, uh, are you guys not mad at me?”

Willow and Xander shared a confused look.

“We’re not mad,” Willow said, sounding a little hurt that Buffy would even think that.

“Yeah,” Xander agreed with a small frown. “We get it, Buff. A summer in L.A is infinitely better than staying in Sunnydale.”

Buffy blinked. “Uh, I guess,” she said slowly.

But before she could question them further, they continued heading down the stairs, and Buffy hurried after them. 

“Giles!” Willow called happily, and Buffy looked down the stairs to see Giles at the bottom talking with... Ms. Calendar?

Eyes wide, Buffy followed her friends as Willow and Xander joined the two adults.

“Hi, kids,” Ms. Calendar said with a smile, frowning slightly when she saw Buffy’s wide-eyed expression.

Giles had seemingly noticed Buffy’s expression too. “How are you?” His voice was gentle, much like it had been after the Master...

 _Oh_. Realisation hit Buffy like a freight train. Hadn’t this all happened just a few months ago? Hadn’t she returned from Los Angeles with her father to this exact scenario? Swallowing, Buffy forced herself to respond to Giles’s question.

“Live and kicking.” She tried a smile that did nothing to hide her worry, and her Watcher definitely noticed.

Thankfully, Willow was there to commandeer the conversation. “Buffy killed a vampire last night!”

Buffy winced. She knew from the last time she’d lived through this very scenario that nobody had heard them, but she still couldn’t help but look around just in case. “Will, maybe keep your voice down?”

Willow cringed. “Sorry.”

Ms. Calendar was still looking at Buffy a little curiously, while Giles was surveying her with concern. Buffy made more of a conscious effort not to look so totally wigged about this whole thing. 

“We’ve got vampires?” Ms. Calendar asked Giles after a moment. “I thought the Hellmouth was closed.”

“Yeah,” Buffy cut in before Giles could, “but it’s not gone.” Everyone blinked at Buffy then, and she flushed. “I mean, I’m guessing that’s what’s going on. Giles?”

Giles blinked, before nodding. “Y-Yes,” he agreed, giving Buffy an odd look. “The mystical energy that emanates from it is still concentrated in this area. As Buffy says, it’s closed but not gone.”

“Which means we’re still the undead’s favourite party town,” Xander chimed in.

Buffy was relieved to find that Giles had become distracted by the Hellmouth situation, and was no longer scrutinising her. Ms. Calendar, however, was still sneaking glances at her. _Well_ , Buffy thought wryly, _I’m not the only one keeping secrets_.

“I, I’ll have to consult my books,” Giles was saying, which led to grinning from Willow and Xander.

“Oh, eight minutes and thirty-three seconds, pay up,” Xander grinned, holding out his hand to Willow who handed over a dollar bill. At Giles’s indignant look, the boy explained. “I called ten minutes before you'd consult your books about something.” He grinned at Willow then. “Thanks.”

The bell rung then, cutting off further conversation.

“We better get to class,” Willow said, and started moving down the corridor.

Buffy stayed put, however, staring expectantly at Giles. She knew what he was going to ask, of course, but that still made her vaguely uncomfortable.

“Buffy,” Giles said uncertainly, “I, ah, I realise you’ve only just returned, but when you’re ready, I- I think we should start your training again.”

The Slayer nodded. “Yeah, but maybe we need to talk first,” she said with a small shrug. “I’ll see you after school?”

Giles blinked at her in surprise, before nodding. “Of course,” he said, seeming a little confused. “After school.”

* * *

Buffy couldn’t concentrate in class. Everything was too weird. Whatever kind of demon Anya- or whatever her real name was- was, it had somehow sent Buffy back in time. And the Slayer really didn’t know what to make of that. Something told her that this was bad, that she needed to talk to Giles as soon as possible, and fix it... But what if that wasn’t what she was meant to do? After all, wasn’t she talking about ‘fixing it’ right before she was sent back? What if it wasn’t a coincidence?

She spent much of class writing down every detail she could remember about her conversation with Anya right up until everything had gone all white and fuzzy. Giles would need as much information as he could get.

She’d wanted a do-over, a chance to fix her mistakes with Angel, to stop Ms. Calendar from dying. Maybe Anya wasn’t an evil demon, but a good one? Maybe she had a soul like Angel, and it compelled her to do good things? But no, that didn’t quite make sense. Were there such things as good demons? Or was Anya not a demon at all, but some sort of twisted fairy godmother? Had she arrived to make Buffy’s dreams come true?

God, she hoped not. Some of the Slayer dreams could get pretty bad, and Buffy still hadn’t fully recovered from her nightmares coming to life last semester. Plus there was that gut feeling she had, the Slayer intuition that told her that Anya probably wasn’t all that good. So what happened now? How did they fix everything and put it back how it was meant to be? 

Buffy thought back to the way Ms. Calendar and Giles had been when she’d seen them that morning. Happy and a little awkward, standing perhaps a little too close to just be colleagues but not close enough to be inappropriate. Buffy sighed at that. Right now, Ms. Calendar and Giles were happy, and were falling in love, and were about to start dating. There hadn’t yet been an Eyghon to scare Ms. Calendar away, or a night of passion between Buffy and Angel to unleash her secret onto the world. And Giles hadn’t yet been forever scarred by finding his girlfriend’s lifeless corpse in his bed.

She shuddered. Would it really count as ‘fixing things’ if Ms. Calendar was dead? What if this was how things were really meant to be? What if Ms. Calendar wasn’t meant to die? Or what if Angel wasn’t meant to lose his soul?

It was all getting too much, and by the time the bell rung to signal the end of the lesson, Buffy knew what she had to do. She had to talk to Giles.

* * *

“Buffy,” Giles greeted from behind the counter, mild concern evident in his tone. “I thought you had class?”

Buffy shrugged, dumping her bag on the counter. “This is more important.”

Giles frowned at that. “Buffy,” he said, and there was a warning, fatherly tone to his voice, “you really shouldn’t skip class.”

She responded by sliding her notebook across the counter to him. Giles picked it up, and frowned.

“What’s this?” he asked after a moment.

Buffy folded her arms. “I’m not supposed to be here, Giles. I’ve already lived through all of this. This morning it was February, now it’s September. _Last_ September.”

Giles blinked, and looked down at the notebook again. “And I take it this, ah, _Anya_ has something to do with it?”

“Unless she had a _really_ bad skin condition, she was _definitely_ a demon,” Buffy shrugged. “I just don’t know what kind.” She sighed, and crossed to the table, dropping into a chair. “I don’t know what I’m meant to do, Giles. I mean, the Slayer part of me is saying that Anya’s trouble. She’s definitely not of the good. But in a few months from now, things are gonna get bad, really bad, and maybe this is my chance to put things right.”

Giles came out from behind the counter, crossing to the table and sitting opposite Buffy, studying her carefully. “You want to put things right?” he echoed, taking in what she was telling him. “Do you feel responsible for what happens in the future?”

She gave a hollow laugh at that. “Yes,” she said. “It’s all my fault, Giles. And there’s a part of me that can’t help thinking, what if this is a good thing? What if this happened for a reason?”

“I have no doubt it did,” Giles responded, placing the notebook down on the desk and staring at it a moment longer. “Buffy, I need you to explain everything to me.”

* * *

“Stuff with Angel kinda goes wrong,” Buffy admitted, very pointedly avoiding Giles’s concerned gaze. “Like, _really_ wrong. People get hurt.” She swallowed. “He loses his soul because of something I do, and my friends end up paying the price.”

“Buffy,” Giles said slowly, voice calm and gentle, “I understand you may not want to talk about it, but I need as much detail as possible. How does Angel lose his soul? Who does he target and why?”

Picking at her nail varnish, Buffy sighed, before very reluctantly talking again. “Giles, he’s not going to lose his soul this time round. I’m not making the same mistake twice.”

Giles fixed her with a look at that, and Buffy flushed. She’d thought Giles finding out about her and Angel was awkward the first time, but this? This was somehow worse. But she also knew that he wasn’t about to judge her. He hadn’t last time, so this time would be the same. Right?

“There’s, uh, a clause to Angel’s soul. He was cursed by Gypsies years ago, and the whole point of his soul was to make him suffer. Angel has to feel guilty all the time, and if he stops feeling that guilt for even a moment...” Buffy trailed off, gave a tight smile. “Well, let’s just say it isn’t fun.”

“I daresay it isn’t,” Giles agreed quietly, looking a little pale. 

“Yeah,” Buffy said tensely. She knew she just had to say it. Drawing it out was making it worse. “Angel lost his soul because I slept with him.”

Giles was very still. He blinked. He stared. He said nothing.

“Now’s the part where you say something reassuring,” Buffy said, joking tone falling flat.

“Yes,” Giles said faintly. “I suppose it is.” He swallowed. “You... You wanted to... With him?”

Buffy’s cheeks heated up in embarrassment. “Yeah,” she said awkwardly, “it was my decision.” She watched then as her Watcher considered that. 

He then nodded, seemingly to himself, flushing in embarrassment himself. He cleared his throat and spoke again. “And after Angel lost his soul, you said people got hurt?”

She nodded. “He strung up Willow’s fish. Told my mom I’d slept with him. We had to do a disinvite spell to keep him out. He killed a few people, turned them so that they could give me a message from him. And he...” She swallowed then, feeling a little shaky.

Giles moved quickly from his seat to kneel in front of Buffy, a concerned look in his eyes as he took her hand in his. She was shaking, struggling to breathe, and she distantly realised she was having a panic attack.

“Buffy? Buffy, look at me. Breathe. It’s alright, just breathe.”

She tried to do as Giles did, kept her eyes locked on his, concentrated on his face and his face alone. Concentrated on the small, reassuring smile on his face, on the concern in his eyes. Finally- _finally_ \- her breathing steadied, and she gave him a shaky smile.

“Perhaps I should make some tea,” Giles said softly, gazing at Buffy in concern. “And maybe we should move into the office, have a little more privacy.”

Buffy nodded, and went to retrieve her bag from the counter while Giles picked up her notebook. Following him through to his office, she sank onto the sofa in there, and watched while he made tea. There was something comforting about the familiarity of it, especially given the weirdness of Buffy’s day so far. So she watched in silence, and took the proffered cup of tea gratefully.

“I take it that Angel- ah, _Angelus_ \- did something quite horrific,” Giles said with a sigh as he sat himself in his desk chair.

Buffy took a sip of tea to avoid the question, and attempted to ignore the renewed shaking in her hands. She couldn’t tell him, she realised. She couldn’t tell him that Ms. Calendar was murdered. If this really was a second chance, a chance to put things right, surely the best thing to do would be to spare Giles the pain of knowing what Angel had done to Ms. Calendar? Taking a breath, Buffy made her decision.

“Angelus wanted to hurt me.” Her voice was shaking, and she tried to ignore it. “He wanted to destroy my life as slowly and painfully as possible. Willow and Xander hated me for what happened, and even though you said that you would fight alongside me, there were some things that affected you too.”

Giles’s brow furrowed, and he looked like he was about to interrupt, so Buffy pressed ahead quickly.

“So that brings me to this morning. When I turned up at school, and this Anya started talking to me, I guess I just wanted someone objective to listen to me. I knew I could talk to you, or Willow, or Xander, but Angelus had hurt all of you, and you all had bigger things to worry about than me feeling sorry for myself. And I ended up telling Anya how I wanted a chance to fix things, and how I wished I’d never slept with Angel, and-”

“You made a wish.” Giles’s voice was soft in the way it always was when he’d just figured out something.

Buffy frowned at him. “What?” she asked. “I mean, I said ‘I wish’, but... Wait? Can demons grant wishes? Why didn’t I know demons could grant wishes?”

“Only a few can,” Giles placated quickly at Buffy’s growing confusion and panic. “But it sounds to me like this Anya is a Vengeance Demon. Angelus was hurting you and your friends, and you wanted vengeance.”

“I _don’t_ want vengeance,” Buffy protested loudly. “I want to fix things!”

Giles considered that for a moment. “So you didn’t want to get back at Angelus? Even after what he’d done?”

Buffy shrugged then, not really sure what to say. “I... I don’t know. I suppose I did. I mean, I’d decided that I was definitely going to go after him after... After everything that he’d done.” She frowned. “But how does going back to Angel having his soul mean vengeance?”

“Well,” Giles said slowly, “how did Angelus feel about having a soul? I hardly doubt he’d be happy about it. Given what little I’ve read about him, he’d likely see it as the ultimate horror. You said he was cursed with a soul in order to feel guilt over his deeds?”

Buffy nodded.

“Guilt _is_ a human emotion,” Giles mused. “Or, at least, it’s not a vampire emotion. Vampires don’t tend to feel guilt, or shame, or horror. In fact, they seem to be quite incapable of it. They see those emotions as beneath them, as, as hampering them. Those emotions get in the way of the killing and the bloodshed, and everything it means to be a vampire.”

Wrinkling her nose, Buffy processed that. “So this is revenge on Angelus because he gets locked away behind Angel’s soul?”

“Perhaps,” Giles conceded. “But from what I understand, Vengeance Demons often have... Specialities, shall we say. Some deal with children, some deal with women, some deal with people who have been wronged in a specific way.”

“And, what?” Buffy asked. “Anya goes after girls whose boyfriends lose their soul?”

Giles smiled tightly at that. “Buffy, I can only go by what I know about Angel, and what I’ve read and heard about Angelus, but... Angel, I feel, cares very deeply for you, and that is not something I think Angelus would be quick to forget. You said he’d made you a target?”

Buffy nodded, trying to ignore the flush of her cheeks. Giles nodded to himself.

“I can only speculate, but Angelus likes to inflict pain upon his victims.”

Buffy swallowed as she recalled finding the remains of Angelus’s brutal masterpiece at Giles’s apartment. The librarian didn’t notice, and pressed on.

“He enjoys the thrill of the chase just as much as the kill itself. With Angelus, the power over the victim doesn’t start and end with his teeth in their throat, or his hands around their neck, but it instead starts a lot sooner. He plays games with his victim, isolates and stalks them, as I’m sure you’re aware.” Giles took a breath then, before continuing. He had gone very pale, and Buffy really wasn’t sure she liked that. “And for someone like you, who made him feel... Loved, and, and cared for...” He took his glasses off then, eyes not meeting hers. “Well, I daresay that Angelus would want his own vengeance for that. He would see you as, as a child who made him feel things vampires should never feel. Love, and affection, they are not things that a true vampire should feel, at least in Angelus’s eyes, and the very fact you brought that out in him when you are so beneath him...” He trailed off, and put his glasses back on.

Buffy took a shuddering breath then, as she remembered the way Angelus had talked to her at his apartment. How she’d been so worried about him disappearing, and he’d talked down to her like she was nothing. It all made sense now, but at the time...

Giles was right. As far as Angelus was concerned, she was a stupid little girl who was so beneath him her only worth was as some toy for him to torture.

“When I first saw him after he’d lost his soul,” Buffy began quietly, “I didn’t realise what had happened. He... He wasn’t there when I woke up, so I went home and got changed, and went to school. And then some stuff happened that we needed Angel for, so I went back to his place, and there he was.” Tears welled in her eyes, and she blinked them away quickly. She could feel Giles’s concerned gaze on her. “The stuff he said... I should have known immediately that it wasn’t him, but I was just so _hurt,_ by what he was saying that it didn’t occur to me to question it.”

“What sort of things?” Giles asked, before catching the flush in Buffy’s cheeks. “Or, ah, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Buffy sniffed, and shrugged. “Just stuff,” she said after a moment. She didn’t meet Giles’s gaze. “He was all sarcastic and mean, and just...” She sighed. “He knew what a big deal it had been for me, and he was just so... _Dismissive_. Like it had meant nothing.”

“Like you were beneath him,” Giles concluded, before catching what he had said and flushing. 

Buffy cleared her throat purposefully, trying to ignore what Giles had just said. “So what does that mean? What does _any_ of this mean? We don’t even know if Anya _is_ one of these Vengeance Demons. All I know is that I said that I wished I’d never slept with Angel, and then Anya somehow undid the last few months.”

“Well, it certainly sounds like you were scorned,” Giles admitted slowly, taking his glasses off to clean them. “And I could certainly _see_ how this could be considered vengeance against Angelus, by going back in time and undoing all of his hard work. But I think perhaps that the main focus was you.”

“Me?” Buffy echoed with a frown.

Giles nodded. “I think that Anya’s focus was on granting your wish, whether it directly involved vengeance on Angelus or not. As I said, there seems to be some indirect vengeance on Angelus by you going back and undoing everything, but I’d say that the focus was on you. What we need to do now is find out how to summon this Anya so that we can fix this.”

Something about Giles’s words made Buffy go cold then. “Fix it?” she echoed, decidedly not keen on the idea.

“Yes,” Giles answered with a frown. “Buffy, we need to undo this spell.”

“Why?” Buffy demanded. 

Giles floundered a little at that. “Well, I- I understand it might be tempting to _not_ undo it, particularly as currently Angel is decidedly not evil. But Buffy, I really do urge you not to simply dismiss this. Things need to be restored to their natural order.”

“Well, what if they don’t?” Buffy demanded, and she was aware she sounded a little petulant, like a little kid. “What if the natural order sucks? What if the natural order gets people hurt? Giles, everything’s good here. Angel’s not evil, Willow and Xander don’t hate me, Ms. Calendar-” She cut herself off quickly.

Eyes narrowing, the Watcher surveyed his Slayer. “What about Ms. Calendar?” he asked suspiciously.

“Nothing!” Buffy responded quickly, forcing a wide smile. “Just, you know, everyone’s happy and healthy, and as much as it’s going to be annoying having to repeat so many classes, I think actually this might be good for all of us-”

“Angelus hurt Ms. Calendar,” Giles realised softly, face going pale at the thought.

Buffy swallowed. “Not now he hasn’t,” she pointed out quietly. “And I’m going to make sure it stays that way.” She got to her feet, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. “I’m not breaking the spell, Giles.”

And before her Watcher could say anything, she’d left the room.

* * *

Buffy didn’t go back to the library after school. She’d said all she was willing to say to Giles, at least for the time being. There was no way she could break the spell, no way she could go back to a Giles that was desperately broken and a Willow who was grieving the loss of her favourite teacher and a Xander who was busy crowing over how right he was about Angel being bad news. And there was no way she could condemn Ms. Calendar to death a second time.

So instead she went home, and did homework, and when Joyce came in from work to find Buffy studying her algebra textbook, her mother jokingly felt her forehead for a fever.

“You don’t _seem_ unwell,” Joyce said humorously, a warm smile at her daughter. “And yet you’re doing homework without being prompted.”

“I just wanted to get a head-start,” Buffy said with a tight smile. “Junior year, and all that.”

Joyce gave a warm smile. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said. “Now let’s hope your grades reflect this new attitude of yours, hmm?”

Buffy gave a tense smile back, and watched as her mother headed for the kitchen. At least at home she only had to worry about all the upcoming school problems and not the Slayer stuff...

* * *

Buffy woke to the sound of her window being slid open and bolted upright in bed. A familiar figure was climbing through her window and the Slayer instincts kicked in. Buffy threw herself from bed, snatched open the drawer of her dressing table, pulled out a stake and spun round. Angel was perched on her windowsill, blinking in surprise at her actions. More than a little embarrassed, Buffy dropped the stake back into the drawer and crossed to the bed. She swallowed. Angel was looking at her with a sort of soft concern, frowning at her. It felt like a lifetime since he’d last looked at her that way. In reality, it had barely been more than a month.

“Angel,” Buffy greeted awkwardly.

“Buffy. Mind if I come in?”

Buffy shrugged. “Be my guest.”

Angel slipped the rest of the way through the window. “How are you?” he asked, hovering by the window as though he daren’t come any closer. She didn’t blame him, after her response had been to grab a stake. The first time in weeks that she’d been around a version of Angel who had a soul and he was staying well clear of her. If only his evil persona showed the same concern for personal space.

“This isn’t a social call, is it?” Buffy asked knowingly.

Angel blinked, and for a brief moment looked a little embarrassed. “It’s not,” he agreed after a moment. “Sorry about that.”

“It can’t be helped,” Buffy said with a tight smile. She knew why he was there. Knew he was about to tell her all about the Anointed One. If there was one thing all those time-travel movies didn’t tell you, it was how _boring_ it was to have to go through all the minor details of your life again.

“I wish I had better news,” Angel said, hands in his pockets and shifting uncomfortably. “But it’s the Anointed One. He’s been gathering forces somewhere in town. I’m not sure why.”

She grimaced. “The Master.”

Angel blinked. “Buffy, the Master’s gone. Giles even buried the bones in consecrated ground.”

“Yeah, but that’s not exactly gonna be a deterrent for his followers, is it?” Buffy pointed out with a sigh. “These guys worship the Master. My guess is they’d stop at nothing to bring him back.”

Angel shifted uncomfortably again. “I suppose,” he conceded after a long moment, before fixing her with another frown. “You don’t sound too concerned.”

“I can handle myself,” Buffy told him. “Besides, let’s just say I’ve got a bit of a head-start.”

Angel’s frown deepened. “Buffy, you shouldn’t underestimate the Anointed One,” he warned. “He might look like a child, but he has power over the rest of them.”

Buffy nodded. “I know. It’s not that I underestimate him, it’s...” She looked at Angel, took in the concern in his eyes, the furrow of his brow. She felt a sharp tug of longing in her chest, and looked away. “It’s kinda hard to explain.” She gave another tight smile. “Thank you for coming to tell me.”

The vampire nodded sharply then, and looked towards the window. “I should go, let you get some sleep.” He turned to the window, paused, looked back. “I missed you.”

Buffy blinked, and gave him a small, sad smile. “I missed you too.”

Angel surveyed her for a moment, and then turned and climbed through the window, vanishing into the night.

* * *

The next day at school, Buffy filled a confused Willow and Xander in on Angel’s visit.

“Is that why you rushed home yesterday?” Willow asked, wide-eyed. “Because Angel was coming by? Only, Giles said you were meant to be coming by the library to train, and, and you never showed...”

“Nah,” Buffy shrugged, looking away, “I just wasn’t feeling great. Had a bit of a headache.”

Willow smiled. “And did Angel help with that?”

Both Xander and Buffy stared at the redhead.

“No,” Buffy responded with a small smile. “It was purely shoptalk. The Anointed One is stirring up trouble. Angel had heard talk of vampires being gathered. But I’ve got a handle on it.”

“Well,” Xander chimed in as Buffy closed her locker, “I hope you having a handle on it means we can Bronze it tonight? Cibo Matto’s gonna be playing.”

“Cibo Matto?” Willow echoed, turning to Xander as they made their way towards class. “They're playing?”

Xander gave his friend a look. “No, Willow, they're gonna be clog dancing.”

“Cibo Matto can clog dance?” Willow blinked at the look from her friends, and deflated a little. “Oh, sarcasm, right.”

“We should attend, no?”

But before either of the girls could respond to Xander’s question, Cordelia appeared in front of them.

“Oh, look, it's the Three Musketeers,” she said snidely.

Willow and Xander shared a confused look at the girl’s words, while Buffy went wide-eyed. With all the Angel drama the night before, and trying hard not to let Xander and Willow in on her very big time-travelling secret, she’d forgotten about Cordelia. If Buffy recalled correctly, last time round she’d been more than a little harsh to Cordelia. Of course, it was Cordelia, and the other girl probably deserved some harshness once in a while, but Buffy did remember that Cordelia had been trying to help, in her own slightly terrible way.

“Hey, Cordy,” Xander said with a grin, “you might wanna work on your insults. It kinda lacked punch.”

Willow nodded sagely beside him. “The Three Musketeers were cool,” she added helpfully.

Cordelia frowned, apparently seriously considering what she was hearing. “I see your point.”

“I woulda gone with Stooges,” Xander said.

“Well,” Cordelia said, still frowning and apparently unsure what to think about the fact they seemed to be actively _helping_ her insult them, “I just meant that you guys always hang out together.” She brightened a little then. “So, did you guys fight any demons this summer?”

Willow and Xander went wide-eyed.

“Uh, yes!” Willow said quickly, looking around to see if anyone had heard. “Our own personal demons.”

“Uh, such as, as, as lust and, uh, thrift!” Xander looked around wildly too.

Buffy suppressed a laugh at that. “I’d have to go with Stooges too,” she told them.

Unsurprisingly, however, Cordelia didn’t seem to understand subtlety. “What are you guys talking about? I'm talking about big squiggly demons that came from the ground? Remember? Prom night? With all the vampires.”

Buffy took a breath, stepping forward then. “Cordelia, we probably shouldn’t be talking about this very loudly and in public.”

“Agreed,” Xander said quickly, before taking Cordelia aside. “It's, see, we can't mention that stuff in front of other people, Buffy being the Slayer and all.”

Willow moved a little closer, looking anxious. “You haven't been talking about our little adventure all summer, have you?”

Cordelia gave the redhead an incredulous look. “Are you nuts? Do you think I would tell people that I spent the whole evening with you? Besides, it was all so creepy. That Master guy? And all the screaming? I don't even like to think about it.” She grimaced, and then looked to Buffy. “So your secret's safe with me.”

Buffy gave the other girl a tight smile. “Just make sure it stays safe.” She looked to Willow and Xander. “We have to get to class.”

She set off down the corridor, not even bothering to see if her friends were following.

* * *

Buffy didn’t make it to the Bronze. Halfway there, while she’d been busy reminding herself she was _not_ going to dance with Xander this time round, even if it did make Angel jealous, she’d remembered what had happened last time. While she’d been grinding with Xander on the dance floor, the Anointed One had stolen the Master’s bones from their grave. So she’d done an about-turn and headed for the cemetery instead.

It turned out, this time round, luck was on her side. As she neared the spot where Giles had buried the bones, half a dozen vampires were pawing at the ground frantically while the Anointed One watched. Jaw set, Buffy reached for the stake she’d brought with her on the off-chance she’d run into vamps at the Bronze. As long as her luck held out, she’d stop them from even getting the bones out of the ground.

But as she neared the vamps, the Anointed One turned to look at her with dark, serious eyes.

“Slayer,” he said, and the other vampires turned to look.

A dark-skinned vampire who clearly fancied himself as second in command glared before spitting out the order. “Get her!”

Half of the vampires rushed at Buffy, while the others renewed their efforts to dig up the Master’s remains. The first vampire to reach her was met with a sharp left hook and a quick stake to the chest, but the second vampire managed to tackle her to the ground. She heard a screech, and looked over to see that the vampires who were still digging were being burned by the ground. The Anointed One glared.

“Keep digging.”

Buffy threw the second vampire aside, scrambling to her feet and dropping into a defensive stance as the second and third vampires circled her.

“Ok,” she said, flashing a grin at them, “who wants to go first?”

The vampires glanced at each other. Buffy pouted.

“What? No takers? Damn. And I was promised a dance tonight.”

She darted forward and delivered a blow to the second vampire, before spinning to strike the third with a hefty kick to the chest. She ducked a punch, and jabbed upwards with the stake, driving the wood home into the second vampire’s chest. He disappeared in a cloud of dust, and Buffy turned to the remaining vampire.

There was a jab, followed by a kick and a left hook, and then Buffy found herself knocked heavily to the ground, her stake skittering across the grass. She launched herself to her feet, scrambled for it, and just managed to wrap her fingers around it as the vampire kicked her hard in the head.

“Well that’s not fair,” she muttered, shaking her head to clear it a little before stumbling to her feet. 

She spared a glance over at the still-digging vampires. They were hauling something out of the ground. She had to act fast. She delivered a blow to the vampire in front of her, sending it careening backwards, and she used that momentum to deliver a swift kick to the ribs. The vampire fell to the ground, and before it had time to process what was happening, Buffy had plunged her stake into its chest. It vanished in a puff of dust, and Buffy smiled grimly.

She sniffed, and straightened up, steeling herself for the next stage of the fight. But as she turned to the site where the Master’s bones were buried, her shoulders fell. The vampires were already scampering off with the Master’s bones, and the Anointed One was nowhere to be seen.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Buffy huffed quietly, before setting off at a run after the vampires.

But she wasn’t fast enough. Buffy growled in frustration as they disappeared into the dark of the night, the Master’s bones in their possession. Shoulder slumped, Buffy turned and headed to the one place she could think of; the library.


	2. Chapter 2

“Giles?”

The library was dark and silent when Buffy arrived, and as she called into the darkness, she was beginning to question whether she shouldn’t have just gone straight to Giles’s house. Stepping further into the library, the Slayer frowned. It really didn’t look like Giles was there.

“Buffy?”

She almost jumped, though she wouldn’t admit it if anybody asked. Looking round, she saw Giles emerging from his office, looking a little rumpled. A small puddle of light spilled out the door. He must have only been using his desk lamp.

Giles frowned at her in concern, and moved towards her. “Buffy?” he said again. “Is everything alright?”

Calming her still-racing heart, Buffy tried a small smile. “Not really,” she admitted. “The Anointed One has the Master’s bones.”

Giles gave her a small, confused smile then, the sort he got when he thought she’d said something quite sweetly naive and altogether entirely wrong. “I really doubt that,” he said, clearly intending to calm her.

“Oh, do you?” Buffy responded, folding her arms across her chest. “Which one of us has already lived through this once? And which one of us has just come from the cemetery where the vampires were digging up the bones?”

Giles’s face fell, and he looked a little sheepish. “I- I, well,” he stuttered, apparently not sure what to say.

Buffy sighed. “I know you did your best, Giles. I know you, you consecrated the ground, and you chanted some Latin, and wore special robes. But the Anointed One wants to bring the Master back, and we need to stop it. Now.”

Giles blinked. “Ah, quite right,” he said, still looking a little bewildered. “I suppose you know where they are?”

Buffy pursed her lips and nodded. “Warehouse at the edge of town,” she admitted quietly. “We need to get there and destroy the bones before they try to go after you guys.”

The librarian frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean,” Buffy said, a little frustrated, “that the ritual demands those closest to the Master when he died have to be there. As, like, a sacrifice or something.” She frowned. “Actually, I’m still a little shaky on the details. But last time, you, and Willow, and Cordelia, and Ms.-” Buffy trailed off, eyes going wide.

“Ms. Calendar?” Giles completed, panic seeping through.

“Oh god,” Buffy muttered as everything clicked into place in her brain. She took a breath, met Giles’s eyes. “We need to get to Ms. Calendar’s. Now.”

She turned and hurried towards the door, hardly even noticing that Giles seemed rooted to the spot.

“Well, I- I don’t know where she-”

“How do you not know where she lives?” Buffy asked turning back to face him with wide eyes. “Giles, this is important! I have no idea when Ms. Calendar got taken, but I know for a fact she’s not gonna turn up for work tomorrow!”

Giles had gone very pale, and part of Buffy felt really quite bad for him. She had to remember, this Giles still hadn’t worked up the courage to even ask Ms. Calendar out on a date, let alone go to her house. Buffy took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down. 

“Ok,” she said after a moment. “It can’t be that difficult to find out where she lives, right?” She forced a weak smile at Giles, but it didn’t seem to reassure either of them. “I think Will and Xander might still be at the Bronze, maybe we can get a message to them?”

“And then what?” Giles asked, his voice sounding a little odd. Buffy really hoped he wasn’t about to totally wig. She couldn’t deal with a wigged-out Giles on top of everything else.  
God, wasn’t the whole point of this wish to give her a chance to fix things? Instead everything seemed to be going wrong.

“Well, Willow could hack into the school database, find Ms. Calendar’s address-”

Giles scowled. “And by that point, there’s a good chance Ms. Calendar will have already been taken.”

Buffy huffed. “Well, what else do you suggest, Giles? I don’t know how to get into the school database, and _you_ certainly don’t!”

“I just think we should actually be _doing_ something,” Giles responded sharply, “rather than standing around-”

Buffy clenched her jaw. “I’m _trying_ to do something, Giles. Ok? I’m _trying_.” She felt tears creeping in behind her eyes, desperately tried to will them away. Giles was stressed. It was alright; she got it. Ms. Calendar was in danger, and he was scared. She took a breath. “I get that you’re scared for Ms. Calendar. But you have to trust me. We have time, as long as they don’t get to the rest of you guys.”

Giles stood stiffly in the middle of the library floor, still clearly unhappy at the idea of waiting around. “What if they’ve already taken her?” he asked quietly. “What if they’ve hurt her, or, or-”

“They won’t, Giles,” Buffy interrupted gently. “You have to trust me. They didn’t hurt Ms. Calendar last time, and they won’t hurt her this time.” She gave a tight smile and crossed to the phone, dialling the number for the Bronze. “Let’s just hope that Willow and Xander are still at the Bronze.”

* * *

They’d managed to get a message to Willow and Xander, which was frankly a miracle given how unconcerned the bartender Buffy had spoken to had been.

“What’s going on?” Willow asked worriedly as soon as she entered the library.

While they’d been waiting, Buffy and Giles had switched the lights on and taken a seat either side of the table. There had been a tense atmosphere as they’d waited for the other two teens to arrive, and they both stood as Willow and Xander came in.

Xander was close behind, looking equally as worried. “Yeah, Buff. You never showed tonight.”

Buffy gave a tight smile. “We’ve got trouble. Vampires.”

Trying for some humour, Xander gave a small smile. “Ah, the usual. And here you had us worrying that something bad was happening.”

Giles scowled at the remark. “Ms. Calendar’s in danger,” he said bluntly, glaring at Xander for a moment, before looking to Willow and softening his gaze somewhat. “We need to find out her address.”

Willow nodded worriedly, and quickly crossed to the computer.

“I’d have done it myself,” Buffy told her friend apologetically, making her way around the table to her friend, “but I figured it would be quicker just to call the expert in.”

Willow gave a slightly shaky smile as she set to work accessing the faculty records. “What exactly is Ms. Calendar in danger from?” she asked quietly, glancing up at Giles and Buffy. “I mean, I know you said vampires, but-”

“The Anointed One is seeking to perform a revivification ritual for the Master,” Giles said quietly, shoulders tense and a small frown on his face. “They’ve already gathered his bones, and now they need those closest to the Master when he died in order to carry out the ritual.”

Xander looked pale. “So it’s not just Ms. Calendar who’s in danger.”

“No,” Buffy admitted, arms folded across her chest. “They’re also after Giles, Willow, and Cordelia.”

Willow frowned. “Well, why not you or Xander?” she asked. “You were here too. You killed him.”

The Slayer gave a small, tight smile. “Yeah, but I was on the roof. Xander was outside. It was just you four actually in the room with him.”

The redhead swallowed, and turned her attention back to the computer, pressing a few more buttons. “Hey,” she said, brightening a little, “Ms. Calendar lives in apartment 3A, Rosewood Apartments.”

“That’s in Cedar Avenue,” Xander said in surprise. “It’s only, like, ten minutes from here.”

Giles hurried to the book cage, and withdrew several weapons including the crossbow and two swords. He handed a number of stakes to Willow, the crossbow to Buffy, and handed one of the two swords to Xander, who blinked at it in surprise. Then he hurried to his office, only to return with his car keys in hand. Without stopping to see if the children were following, he marched towards the library doors.

Buffy, Willow, and Xander all shared a look, before hurrying after him.

* * *

But when they reached Rosewood Apartments, it quickly became clear that Ms. Calendar wasn’t home.

“Maybe she’s just out,” Willow suggested weakly as Giles hammered on the door again.  
Xander furrowed his brow. “Out where?” he asked. “This is Sunnydale, Will, the nightlife’s pretty much dead. And I mean that in all possible ways.”

Buffy felt sick as Giles continued hammering almost frantically on the door. “She’s not here,” she said quietly. “They must have already taken her.”

Giles was still hammering on the door, and Willow and Xander were looking around nervously. It was well known that most people ignored the strange sounds of Sunnydale after dark, but if anyone did happen to glance out the window or stick their head out the door, three teenagers and the high school librarian wielding weapons was going to be difficult to explain. 

Buffy reached for the sleeve of Giles’s jacket, tugged on it in an attempt to get his attention. “Giles, let’s go. Ms. Calendar isn’t here.”

He ignored her, but he did pull his sleeve from her grip. Clenching her jaw, Buffy stepped closer and grabbed his arm again, hauling him round to look at her. He had a wild look in his eyes, and Buffy felt that nauseous feeling again. He looked just like he’d looked when he’d gone after Angelus after finding Ms. Calendar’s body.

“I can’t just _leave_ , Buffy!” Giles ground out, flinging the arm still clutching his sword out and very nearly taking out Willow and Xander in the process.

Buffy winced and quickly pulled his arm down. “Yes you can,” she said, hoping she sounded authoritative. It felt a little odd to be the one telling Giles what to do, and with the look on his face still reminding her uncomfortably of having to pull him from the burning warehouse after his suicide mission to attack Angelus, Buffy herself was struggling to stay calm. “Look, we know where they’ve taken her. We’ll just go there, and deal with the vampires, and get her out. Ok?”

Giles’s jaw was tight, but he reluctantly nodded. Taking a breath, Buffy led the group back to the car. Willow and Xander were watching the older man a little cautiously, apparently not quite sure how to take Giles’s outburst. Buffy didn’t blame them. Seeing Giles rattled was weird at best and terrifying at worst. 

She just hoped he managed to keep it together.

* * *

When they piled out of Giles’s old Citroen at the warehouse, Buffy took a breath.

“There’s gonna be maybe a dozen vampires in there,” she told her friends, “maybe even the Anointed One. You guys just focus on getting Ms. Calendar out, ok?”

Xander nodded, gripping his sword tight, but Willow had a puzzled expression on her face.

“How do you know all this, Buffy?” she asked. “I mean, not that it’s not great! But... When did you have time to do all this research?”

Buffy and Giles shared a look.

“I didn’t,” Buffy admitted, and then she set off towards the warehouse before Willow could ask anything else.

There was the sound of movement inside as they neared the building, of raised voices, and Buffy was almost relieved. She hadn’t been certain they’d even find the vampires, not that she was going to tell the others that, and it was reassuring that she could stop everything before it had even got started. But as she moved closer, she couldn’t deny the sense of foreboding that was growing inside her. Swallowing, she glanced back to the others.

“I’ll go in first, create a diversion,” she said quietly, shifting her crossbow in her hands.

“I’ll follow,” Giles said lowly, coming to stand just behind Buffy.

She frowned. “Giles, no. You have to get Ms. Calendar out. I’ll be fine.”

Giles clenched his jaw. “Buffy, this isn’t a debate.”

“No,” Buffy agreed angrily, “it’s not. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Well, what if you’re not?” Giles demanded. He glanced over at Willow and Xander, who were watching the argument with concern, and he took a step closer to Buffy. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter but still angry. “They might not have had time to, to hurt Ms. Calendar, but what if they hurt you? I am not standing around and doing nothing while you put yourself in danger pitting yourself against a dozen vampires-”

“And what’s the alternative?” Buffy asked sharply. “You rushing in without a thought, nearly getting yourself killed?” She was aware that she was speaking loud enough for Willow and Xander to hear, was aware of them watching her in concern. She was aware of the look of surprise on Giles’s face too, perhaps because of the tears that were glistening in her eyes or the way her voice shook when she spoke. “Me having to drag you out, all while you’re doing your best to rush back into a fight you’re never gonna win? Having to watch you completely lose it, all because you’re too pigheaded to ask for help?”

Giles’s shoulders had slumped, and he was giving her an odd look that Buffy thought might have been concern. “Buffy,” he began, confused and uncertain.

Buffy swallowed thickly. She hadn’t meant to say any of that, hadn’t meant to freak out. “Giles, I can handle myself,” she said quietly. “I was fine last time, I’ll-” She stopped abruptly, as she realised just what the sense of foreboding had been. “Cordelia.”

“I- What?” Giles asked, frowning.

“Cordelia,” Buffy repeated, meeting Giles’s eyes. “I think they might have Cordelia too. She never showed up for school the next day, and then they lured me to the Bronze with a trap to get to you guys.” She looked towards the warehouse behind her. “Giles, I don’t think it’s just Ms. Calendar in there.”

Giles took a breath, clearly unhappy at this revelation. He looked to the warehouse for a moment, before looking back to Buffy. “You need my help at all, you’ll shout?”

Buffy gave him a tight smile. “As loud as I can,” she promised.

Sighing, Giles looked to the warehouse again. “Then I suppose we’d better get in there.”

* * *

All in all, the fight didn’t seem to take that long. For a start, Cordelia had actually been conscious, and had had to be dragged out by Willow and Xander before she could give the vampires a piece of her mind. And Ms. Calendar, while groggy, had all but shoved Giles back inside to help Buffy deal with the remaining vampires. By the time they had dealt with the stragglers, and Buffy had quite intensely pulverised the Master’s remains (which had had quite the same effect as last time), Giles and Buffy had found that Cordelia had already stormed off home.

“Well,” Giles said when Ms. Calendar explained that, “I’m assuming that means she’s fine?”

He had one arm on Buffy’s back, who was still sniffling a little. She hadn’t expected to have such an intense reaction to seeing the Master’s remains again, and had been more than a little surprised when Giles had patted her on the back. The subsequent hug had been almost entirely initiated by Buffy, but he hadn’t protested, and the hand on her back reassured her that he hadn’t felt too awkward about it.

“Oh, she is,” Ms. Calendar confirmed with a tight smile. “She spent most of the time complaining about how her clothes were getting dirty. Apparently the worst thing to come out of tonight is her dry cleaning bill.”

They piled into Giles’s Citroen, the three teens squeezing into the backseat. Ms. Calendar blinked at the arrangement, and gave Xander a look.

“Are you sure you’re alright back there?” she asked, clearly quite sceptical.

Xander forced a grin. “Oh, just fine, Ms. Calendar,” he said in a bright voice. “Besides, I’m not the one the vampires wanted to kill. I’m pretty certain that earns you shotgun.”

Pursing her lips, Ms. Calendar reluctantly slid into the front seat, and tried to ignore it as Xander shifted uncomfortably in the back. Xander, for his part, just grinned at Buffy and Willow.

“Remind me to never road trip with Giles.”

* * *

Willow and Xander were dropped off at home, as was Ms. Calendar, and then Buffy and Giles went back to the library to return the weapons. Buffy could feel Giles’s gaze on her, though, and she wasn’t entirely sure what to think of it.

“Buffy,” he said after a long, heavy silence as he put away the crossbow, “what exactly did you mean about me rushing in and nearly getting killed?”

Buffy shrugged awkwardly from her seat on the table, and evaded Giles’s gaze when he came out of the book cage to look at her. “Just, you know, I didn’t want you doing something stupid.”

“Well, I suppose that’s reassuring,” Giles said with a small frown. “But it sounded like there was more to it than that.” Hands in his pockets, he slowly made his way over to her. “Buffy, am I correct in thinking this has something to do with the alternate future you came from?”

Buffy shrugged again, and examined her nails. Giles sighed, and pulled out a chair, sitting down.

“I really don’t want to sound like a broken record, but you do need to tell me what’s going on.”

Buffy sighed at that, and reluctantly met the Watcher’s eyes. “Some... Stuff happened, after Angel lost his soul,” she admitted slowly. “After he... Hurt Ms. Calendar, you kinda went after him yourself. Which is totally understandable, but when you have to pull your Watcher out of a burning building because he’s gone on a suicide mission, it sort of stays with you.”

Giles pursed his lips, and the pair of them sat in silence for several long moments. “I’m sorry I put you through that,” he said quietly, frowning to himself. “I don’t...” He sighed in frustration. “I don’t understand why I would do that.”

“Angel hurt Ms. Calendar. You wanted to hurt him in return,” Buffy said simply.

“I... I suppose that makes sense,” Giles said, voice wavering. He met Buffy’s gaze uncertainly. “What exactly is mine and Ms. Calendar’s relationship, where you’re from?”

“You were together,” Buffy told him. 

“Were?” the librarian echoed.

“The stuff with Eyghon sort of screwed things up a bit,” Buffy admitted with a wince. As Giles paled at the mention of the demon, she smiled slightly. “And yes, I know all about your rebellious years, Giles.”

“Good lord,” Giles muttered with a frown, before shaking himself. “And, ah, Ms. Calendar and I... We didn’t... We didn’t patch things up?” He sounded cautiously hopeful, and it made Buffy feel a little nauseous.

Her tentative smile faded. “I... I think you were going to,” she explained slowly, “but then Angelus got involved. I don’t really know why he went after her, beyond revenge for being cursed, but-”

“I’m sorry,” Giles interrupted, “but what does Angel’s curse have to do with Ms. Calendar?”

Realising she’d once again slipped up, Buffy’s eyes went wide. “I’m really not good at this whole time travel thing, huh?” she said, attempting a smile.

Giles didn’t smile back. Buffy swallowed.

“You need to tell me, Buffy.”

Buffy shifted uneasily. “It’s not really my story to tell. I’ve said too much already, I’m probably not even supposed to be talking about all this.”

The Watcher stared at her a moment longer, before getting to his feet suddenly. He crossed to the stairs and ascended them, quickly moving to a bookshelf and thumbing through books. Buffy watched in concern, and he returned a minute or so later with a stack of books.

“I suggest you go home, it’s getting late,” he said as he placed the books on the table. “I trust you’re alright walking home?”

Buffy blinked. “I suppose.” She eyed the books carefully. “What are those for?”

“Research,” Giles responded as though it were obvious. “We have to find out how to summon this Anya and have her undo everything. And then I need to go and talk to Ms. Calendar.”

Buffy slipped off the table, watching Giles uncertainly. “Look, Giles, please don’t go too hard on Ms. Calendar-”

“Buffy, you have just all but told me that Ms. Calendar has a connection to Angel’s curse. She hasn’t bothered to disclose that information to us herself, therefore it seems I will have to confront her-”

Buffy grimaced. “Maybe ‘confront’ is a little strong-”

“She’s been lying to us,” Giles responded sharply. “A lie by omission, perhaps, but still a lie. And if what you’ve told me is true, she endangered not only your life, but the lives of, of Willow, and Xander, and your mother as well. And I won’t stand for it.” He turned back to the books then. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With a distinct feeling of unease, Buffy left the library.

* * *

Buffy didn’t go home. She couldn’t, not given the fact that Giles was likely going to confront Ms. Calendar. It didn’t seem fair, that Ms. Calendar would be dropped in it like that. As much as Buffy had hated the woman for not knowing Angel’s curse had a clause, she didn’t want the teacher to be yelled at by Giles because of it, and she certainly didn’t want this Ms. Calendar to be yelled at when she had yet to do anything wrong. So she made her way over to Rosewood Apartments instead.

Ms. Calendar was a bit bewildered to find Buffy on her doorstep, and Buffy couldn’t blame her. The older woman was in a pair of pyjamas and a dressing gown, and Buffy shifted uncomfortably when she realised she’d probably woken her. Things really weren’t going well for her tonight.

“Buffy?” Ms. Calendar asked, blinking in confusion.

Buffy gave an awkward smile and a wave. “Uh, hi. I just thought I’d stop by, see how you’re doing. You know, after the whole ‘being kidnapped by vampires’ thing.”

Ms. Calendar frowned. “Buffy, not that I don’t appreciate the concern, but it’s gone midnight. I really think you should go home.”

As Ms. Calendar moved to shut the door, Buffy jumped forward, getting a hand between the door and the doorframe.

“Wait! I know who you are!”

Ms. Calendar froze, and opened the door again a little. She squinted at Buffy for a moment. “You know, you really shouldn’t have put your hand in the door,” she said, voice shaking a little. “Slayer or not, I don’t want to break your fingers.”

Buffy could see that she’d rattled the computer science teacher, and she grimaced. “I’m sorry, I’m not here to, to, freak you out or anything.” She sighed. “Can I come in and talk?”

Ms. Calendar considered that for a moment, before stepping back and letting Buffy into the apartment. It was small and modest, but nicely decorated. Buffy padded through to the sitting room, and Ms. Calendar followed.

“Buffy, can you please just tell me what’s going on?” Ms. Calendar asked, sounding tired.

“Sorry.” Buffy gave another tight smile. “I just... I know that your family is the one who cursed Angel.”

Ms. Calendar pursed her lips, arms folded across her chest as she very pointedly stared at a bookshelf rather than Buffy. “I see. Who else knows?”

“Well, uh, I sort of maybe let it slip to Giles,” Buffy admitted, shifting awkwardly. “I didn’t mean to, but it just came out, and I think he’s sort of mad about it, and I wanted you to be prepared.”

Ms. Calendar reacted very little to that news, save for a small nod and a trace of fear in her eyes. “Can I ask how you found out?”

Buffy swallowed. “I... I don’t know if I should say,” she said after a moment.

Ms. Calendar gave another small nod. “Ok. Well, thank you for warning me about Rupert.”

She started trying to usher Buffy to the door then, and Buffy let her.

“I- I’m sorry about coming by so late,” Buffy said as she was herded towards the door. “I just wanted to give you the heads up about Giles.”

“And you have,” Ms. Calendar said in her best teacher voice. “Now you really need to go home. You’ve got school in a few hours.”

But as Ms. Calendar opened the front door, they were met by a baffled Giles blinking back at them.

* * *

“Buffy?” Giles asked, frowning at his Slayer. “I thought you’d gone home?”

Buffy swallowed. “I was just going,” she said, slipping out of the door. She looked between the two adults, both of whom were staring at her. “Anyway. See you tomorrow.” She then darted off before they could say anything.

Jenny watched the girl go, before turning her attention back to Giles. “I assume you want to come in.”

She headed back inside, leaving Giles to follow. He shut the door behind him and followed her into the sitting room.

“Why exactly was Buffy here?” Giles asked, frowning.

Jenny had folded her arms across her chest again. “She told me that she knows about my connections to Angel, and that she’d accidentally let it slip to you.”

“I see. And did she say anything else?”

“No,” she admitted. “She said she couldn’t tell me how she knew. But, she was worried you were going to come over here. Wanted to warn me.”

Giles looked affronted at that. “Warn you?” he echoed. “Why? What exactly did she think I was going to do?”

“I don’t know, Rupert,” Jenny retorted quickly. “And I don’t know why you’re so angry at me either.”

Giles clenched his jaw at that, and forced himself to take a steadying breath. “You don’t-” he began, before trailing off and taking a moment. “How can you possibly say you don’t know why I’m angry at you? You’ve been lying about who you are-”

Jenny let out a cold laugh at that. “I haven’t been lying! Rupert, you haven’t once asked about my personal life, about my family!”

“So if I’d asked, you’d have been forthcoming with this information that your family is responsible for Angel’s curse?” Giles asked sharply.

It was Jenny’s turn to clench her jaw, and she looked away for several long moments. “It wasn’t your business,” she said quietly, frustration evident in her tone. “It didn’t concern you-”

“My Slayer is infatuated with him,” Giles interrupted harshly. “I’d say that makes it my business, wouldn’t you? So when did you plan to tell me your family is the reason Angel’s cursed?”

Several long moments went by. When it became clear Jenny wouldn’t- or couldn’t- answer Giles’s question, the man nodded slowly.

“You put the children at risk by not telling me,” Giles said lowly.

“I didn’t-” 

“Buffy’s informed me that there’s a, a clause in Angel’s curse,” Giles continued, speaking over Jenny’s protests. “A clause that can cause him to lose his soul. Perhaps you’d like to fill me in on the details?”

Jenny frowned at him, blinking in confusion. “What? Rupert, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Where... Where did Buffy get this information?”

The look of anger slid from Giles’s face then, and he blinked back. “Do... Do you really have no idea about the clause in Angel’s curse?” His voice shook a little, his uncertainty palpable.

Jenny swallowed. “Rupert,” she repeated, “who told Buffy that Angel could lose his soul?”

“I can’t say,” Giles said, and he sounded a little distant, like his mind was elsewhere. But he was scrutinising her carefully.

More than a little flustered, Jenny moved to grab her phone. “I have to make a phone call,” she told him. “That can’t be right; I have to call my uncle-”

“How can you possibly not know about Angel being able to lose his soul?” Giles said then, and his voice was stronger now, almost accusing.

Jenny paused in where she’d been punching numbers into the phone, and stared at the man who was now scowling at her. “I, I don’t know,” she admitted, wide-eyed. “Rupert, you have to believe me. I was just told to follow Angel to Sunnydale, to keep an eye on him. That’s all. I don’t know anything about the curse, beyond why he has it. And I’ve never even heard of there being a way to break it.”

But Giles looked uncertain, and Jenny frowned at him. 

“You believe me, right?” she asked quietly.

Giles surveyed her for a moment longer. “If what you’re saying is true,” he said after a long pause, “and you truly didn’t know about there being a way to break Angel’s curse... Why didn’t you ask? Why would they send you to keep watch over Angel if the curse was permanent? What need would they have for you following him?”

Jenny shrugged uncomfortably at that. “I don’t know,” she admitted quietly. “I always just assumed... I just assumed it was them giving me some pointless task to do. I was always a disappointment, and I thought this was their way of having me be involved but not involved.”

Giles pursed his lips for a moment, considered that. “You should have asked, Jenny,” he said, and her heart nearly skipped a beat at how he didn’t stumble over her name. But the coldness in his tone made sure she didn’t feel too happy about that. “You didn’t question it, and now you’ve put the children in danger with your thoughtlessness.” 

“Rupert-”

But Giles was already moving for the door. “I’ll see myself out.”

* * *

Buffy got to school early the next morning. She hadn’t been able to sleep, not with knowing that Giles and Ms. Calendar probably had a huge argument the moment she had left. But when she reached the library and found it empty, she was somewhat relieved. She didn’t really want to deal with Giles so early in the morning, but she hadn’t been able to stay home either, and wandering the school meant risking bumping into Snyder. He’d probably accuse her of being up to no good, even though she was just walking around campus, and she wasn’t sure she wanted an argument with Snyder on top of everything else that was happening. With a sigh, she dropped into a seat at the table and frowned at the scattered papers and the opened books Giles had left in his wake.

Clearly the whole ‘Ms. Calendar keeping secrets’ thing had hit him harder than Buffy had anticipated; Giles didn’t usually leave stuff lying around, not least because Snyder might find it. So Buffy started tidying it up, mostly to give herself something to do. She used scraps of paper for bookmarks in case Giles hadn’t finished his notes, and she neatly stacked the books at one end of the table. Then she started on the papers. She didn’t really know what order they were meant to be in, so Buffy gathered them together in a semi-neat pile instead. If Giles wanted to sort through them later, he was more than welcome, but she wasn’t going to spend time struggling to piece together some semblance of order from them.

But Buffy paused when she picked up one piece of paper in particular. In Giles’s handwriting, the words ‘Ritual to summon the Vengeance Demon Anyanka’ were scrawled across the top, and underneath he had written out the words that would summon forth the demon.

“Anyanka?” Buffy muttered with a frown.

Was this even the right demon? Sure, the first part of the name was pretty much right, but it hadn’t occurred to Buffy that ‘Anya’ wasn’t much of a demonic name. But then, surely Giles wouldn’t have written it down if he didn’t think it was a possibility this was the demon Buffy had spoken to?

The library was still eerily silent, and Buffy took a breath, making up her mind. Gripping the paper in both hands, she read out the spell. “Anyanka, I beseech thee. In the name of all women scorned, come before me.”

There was what seemed to be a puff of smoke, and then Anya was smirking at her in full demon form.

“Oh,” Buffy said, blinking at the demon in front of her. “It _is_ you. You know, it really would have helped if you’d told me your full name.”

Anya shrugged. “You never asked,” she stated. “Why have you summoned me? You got your wish, didn’t you? You never slept with Angel, and he never lost his soul.”

That made Buffy frown. “You knew,” she said accusingly. “You knew about me, and Angel, and his soul-”

Anya scoffed at that. “Of course I did,” she said, clearly annoyed. She folded her arms across her chest. “I knew you were the Slayer the moment I responded to your call. Why do you think I was so keen to help? I knew your wish would be a lot of fun.”

“Fun?” Buffy echoed, deadpan. Then, she shook her head. “Whatever. Did you know my Watcher wants me to undo the spell? And can we maybe have this conversation without you being all demon-y?”

Anya rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said, and suddenly she didn’t look like Anyanka the demon, but Anya the high school student. Veiny, raw skin faded into clear, creamy skin. “About your Watcher and his insistence you break my spell. Has he told you how?”

Buffy frowned again. It hadn’t occurred to her that Giles might have found the way to reverse the spell, along with how to summon Anya. It was probably somewhere in that pile of paper. She glanced at it for a while. “I don’t want to reverse it,” Buffy said after a long moment. “Not completely, anyway.”

Anya arched an eyebrow. “I don’t make deals, Slayer. You made this wish; this is your brave new world. Live in it.”

“But Giles and Ms. Calendar...” Buffy began, frowning. “I think I’ve messed things up. Giles is totally mad at her, and I only made this wish to put things right. This isn’t right!”

Anya shrugged. “Look, I’m not a miracle worker, Slayer. You wished you could go back and not sleep with Angel, and that’s what you’ve got.”

“There has to be a way, though!” Buffy insisted desperately. “Why can’t you put things back to how they were on the night Angel and I slept together? Why did you send me so far back? If you’d sent me back to my birthday, Giles and Ms. Calendar would be talking, and, and I swear they were going to properly get back together! And now I don’t know what’s happening, but I know it can’t be good!” Buffy scowled at the bored-looking Anya. There had to be a way to make sure Giles and Ms. Calendar were ok... “What if I make another wish?”

Rolling her eyes, the demon fixed the Slayer with a look. “You do realise that you can’t just keep wishing for stuff, right?” At Buffy’s wide-eyed look, she groaned. “Ugh, humans! Look, I’m not some fairy godmother and I’m not a genie. You don’t get three wishes, you don’t get do-overs. You were scorned, and I granted your wish.” She threw her hands up in frustration. “Why is this so hard for you people to understand?”

Buffy felt like she might throw up. “So... The only way to fix what’s wrong in this world is... To break the wish entirely?”

“Yes,” Anya said simply. “But don’t think I’m going to be giving you any clues. You break this wish, and my vengeance career is over. And besides, you break this wish and you return to the world where your boyfriend lost his soul, your teacher lost her life, and your Watcher lost his love. Do you really want that?”

The Slayer watched the demon for several long moments, swallowing hard. “I... I want Giles to be happy,” she said at last, her voice small and a little wobbly. “What happened to Ms. Calendar happened because of me. I didn’t wish for this second chance because of Angel, or at least not just because of Angel, but also because of Giles and Ms. Calendar. It isn’t fair that Giles gives up so much of his own life for me, and that even includes his girlfriend. And what’s worse is that I’m not sure he ever even really blamed me for it. I mean, yeah, deep down he probably hated me a little. But the only time he got mad at me was for pulling him out of Angelus’s warehouse. He said it wasn’t my fight. But my fights are always his fights, so _his_ fights are _mine_. He’s never refused to help me, and I wanted to make things right for him.”

Anya arched an eyebrow. “And how is that working out for you?” she asked. “The ‘making things right’ part?” 

Buffy glared for a moment, before her shoulders slumped. “Just... Isn’t there _anything_ you can do?”

The demon rolled her eyes. “Like I’ve already said, I’m _not_ a fairy godmother. I’m not here to grant you your ‘happily ever after’.”

“But it’s not for me,” Buffy countered desperately. “Please? You wouldn’t even be breaking the whole spell, just part of it! Just make it so that Ms. Calendar doesn’t die.”

* * *

Giles paused just outside the library doors. He could hear talking from inside, Buffy’s voice as well as another unfamiliar one. It was odd for Buffy to be so early to school, or at least it was in normal circumstances. But, he supposed, having made a wish and been flung into an alternate timeline could have had an effect on Buffy beyond the trauma she had faced before the wish had taken place.

Pursing his lips, Giles peered through the window to see Buffy talking with a brunette around her age.

“You never wished for that,” the brunette said with a shrug. “You wished you’d not slept with Angel.”

 _Ah_ , Giles realised. That must be the Vengeance Demon who had granted Buffy’s wish. Anyanka, according to the research he’d done before he’d gone to see Jenny last night.

Buffy was looking frustrated with the demon, and Giles wondered whether she had looked through all of his research before uncovering the summoning ritual. Even from where he was stood he could see the amulet around Anyanka’s neck. Break the amulet, break the spell. There was no reason why Buffy wasn’t trying to grab it, unless she didn’t realise how to break the spell. Giles was just about to intervene when Buffy spoke.

“Yes,” Buffy ground out, growing frustrated, “so that Ms. Calendar wouldn’t die! Giles went to pieces after he lost her, and I can’t stand seeing him like that! I- I know that I’ll probably still lose Angel, and, and I’m not exactly ok with that, but I will be. I know what me and Angel being together would mean, now, how much hurt it would cause, and... And I think I have to let him go. But it isn’t fair that Giles has to let Ms. Calendar go too. Even if me and Angel can’t be fixed, there has to be something you can do for Giles and Ms. Calendar. _Please_?”

Giles felt his blood run cold.

* * *

Inside the library, Anya hesitated and for a moment Buffy thought that perhaps the demon would make her a deal after all. But then the demon pursed her lips, and the Slayer felt her stomach plummet.

“I meant what I said.” The demon almost sounded regretful. _Almost_. “You break the wish, and you return to the world you made the wish in. Or, you choose to live this new life.”  
Buffy swallowed thickly, and she felt like she could hardly breathe. It took her a moment to get the words out. “I’ll stay.”

Anya smiled a little smugly. “Good.” And then she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Buffy blinked, and her shoulders slumped. All that and she hadn’t gotten anywhere. Still, at least she knew how the wish worked now.

“Buffy?”

Her head jerked up, and she saw Giles stood in the doorway to the library. She hadn’t heard him enter. He had an odd look on his face, part disappointed, part angry, part bewildered.

“Giles,” Buffy said, wide-eyed. “When did you get here?”

Instead of responding, the man stepped further into the room. “I assume you didn’t find my research detailing how to break the spell?” He gave a pointed look at the now-neatly stacked papers and books on the table.

Buffy glanced at them, and shrugged awkwardly. “I already told you, Giles,” she said, “I’m not breaking the spell.”

Giles nodded slowly, hands in his pockets as he moved towards Buffy. “Ah, yes,” he said. “Because if you were to break the spell, Ms. Calendar would die.”

Buffy went wide-eyed and pale-faced at his words. “How-”

“I happened to overhear the tail end of the conversation with our demon friend,” Giles responded tensely. “Buffy, this is the third time I will ask you to explain everything to me, and this time I would like you to actually do so. No more secrets. Am I clear?”

Buffy swallowed, and slowly nodded.

Giles gave a swift nod back and moved towards his office. “Perhaps some privacy?” he suggested, tone still tense.

Reluctantly, the Slayer followed her Watcher into his office.


	3. Chapter 3

“Buffy,” Giles said once he’d shut his office door, “I cannot help but feel somewhat... Disappointed that you’ve continued to keep things from me.”

Buffy had sunk onto the sofa, and was staring at her hands. “I’m sorry, Giles,” she said quietly, not able to meet his eyes. “I just... I thought it was better if you didn’t know.”

Giles surveyed her for a moment then, taking in the slump of her shoulders, the way she seemed to have drawn in on herself, her reluctance to meet his gaze. Then, he sighed.

“While I appreciate the sentiment, this really isn’t something you should have kept from me,” he said after a long pause, and he moved to sit beside Buffy on the sofa. He didn’t look at her, though, even as she glanced up at him in confusion. Her eyes skittered away again after only a second or two and Giles stared at the opposite wall as he spoke. “I understand that you were concerned about how I might take the news regarding Ms. Calendar’s death, and, and I can’t say I’m not a little shaken by it, but given how Ms. Calendar’s death factors into your desire not to break the spell-”

“I can’t break it, Giles,” Buffy interrupted quickly, pale-faced at the thought. She was looking at him now, a fearful look on her face. “I can’t do that to you.”

“Buffy, Ms. Calendar and I aren’t together,” Giles reminded her a little uneasily. “I understand that it must be rather confusing, separating this reality from your alternate reality, but you mustn’t let that cloud your judgement.”

“No! Giles, I _can’t_!” Buffy was on her feet then, pacing, and Giles watched her warily. “Everything fell apart after I slept with Angel, because I slept with Angel-”

“Buffy, you couldn’t have known-” Giles tried to interrupt.

But Buffy either didn’t hear him, or was too pent up to listen. “I put my friends and family in danger, he killed people to get to me, I wasted opportunities to kill him...” She stopped pacing, met Giles’s gaze with frightened eyes. “Giles, I could have stopped him. The day after he lost his soul, I confronted him. I could have staked him there and then, but I didn’t. I couldn’t look at him and not see Angel. So I walked away, and Ms. Calendar got killed because of it.”

“You cannot be blamed for Angelus’s actions,” Giles protested. “Angelus is a soulless monster, he has no moral compass, and, and thrives on pulling people’s lives apart. But he is still capable of making decisions, he is still capable of knowing right from wrong, he simply does not feel guilt or remorse for doing those wrong things. You cannot be blamed for his lack of guilt.”

Buffy clenched her jaw. She was hugging herself, shifting from foot to foot in the middle of the office. Giles watched her, and waited patiently for Buffy to speak.

“I... Giles, when he... When Angelus killed Ms. Calendar, it’s not just that he killed her. I, I meant what I said before, about how I thought the two of you were patching things up. If Angelus hadn’t killed her, I think you and Ms. Calendar were going to get back together. You were angry at her, for not telling us about who she was, or her connection to Angel, but... But I think you loved her. Like, really loved her. And I don’t really know Ms. Calendar well, but she cared for you too.”

Giles was feeling a little ill, and from the look on Buffy’s face, she wasn’t feeling much better.

“What-” Giles began, throat dry. “What did Angelus do to her?”

Buffy swallowed, and stared at a patch of wall. “He snapped her neck. I guess it must have been quick, which I suppose is nice, in a twisted way.” Buffy’s voice was distant, her face pale, eyes glazed over as she recalled what had happened. “It could have been worse, you know? You told me some of the things Angelus did to his victims, and... Well, I’m glad he didn’t do any of that to Ms. Calendar.” She let out a humourless laugh then, and looked to Giles with hollow eyes. “How sick is that? I’m actually grateful to Angelus for not being _more_ evil. What does that make me, Giles?”

Giles’s eyes were damp. “Buffy-”

But Buffy had looked away again. “When Angelus was done snapping Ms. Calendar’s neck, he took her to your place. He put her in your bed, for you to find. There were flowers... Red roses. A note telling you to come upstairs to the bedroom. Alcohol on ice.” She swallowed. “He set the scene, wanted you to think Ms. Calendar was waiting for you... That you were gonna have a nice romantic evening together.” A pause. Buffy met Giles’s eyes. “You found her corpse in your bed.”

There was a heavy silence then, while Giles processed what he’d been told. “You... You said last night that I... That I went on a, ah, suicide mission after Angelus hurt Ms. Calendar...”

“Yeah,” Buffy said quietly, nodding. “You went to the warehouse where Angelus was hiding out. I don’t know what exactly happened, but by the time I got there, the place was on fire and I had to drag you out. You... You yelled at me, after. Said it wasn’t my fight. That I shouldn’t have got involved. Angelus had killed Ms. Calendar, so you were going to kill him. And you yelled, and I yelled, and... And then you cried.” 

Buffy took a breath, willing away the tears welling in her eyes. “You know, I thought nothing could be worse than you calling me to tell me Angelus had killed Ms. Calendar. And _then_ I thought nothing could be worse than seeing what he’d done at your apartment, the drawing he’d left you, the flowers he’d put out.” She shook her head. “But nothing was worse than seeing you cry. I mean, you’re _Giles_. You’re not allowed to cry. You’re the one who’s supposed to know what’s going on, you’re the one who’s calm when everyone else is freaking out. You’re the one who always knows what to do.”

“That’s an awful amount of pressure to put on someone, Buffy,” Giles said quietly, clearly a little uneasy.

Buffy sighed. “I know,” she acknowledged softly. “But you’re the strong one, Giles. You’re the one I look to when I’m freaking out. And seeing you freaking out was... Angelus didn’t just hurt Ms. Calendar, Giles, he broke _you_.” Her voice began to rise. “And I can’t just, just undo the wish and go back to a world where one decision ruined so much! How can you ask me to undo everything when it means Ms. Calendar dying, and Angelus threatening my friends, and you being in so much pain? I can’t do that to you, Giles, not to any of you! But if we keep this world going, we can save Ms. Calendar’s life. I can spare you that pain-”

“Buffy,” Giles broke in gently, “I understand. And, and I appreciate what you are doing. But it isn’t your job to spare me pain, and keeping this world going doesn’t guarantee that Ms. Calendar won’t come to harm-”

“But Angel won’t lose his soul!” Buffy protested, wide-eyed. “And, and if he’s on our side, he can help us take out Spike and Drusilla! Plus, we’ll be ready for them this time; if we can take them out early, they might not even be a problem.”

Giles blinked. “And Spike and Drusilla are?”

“Vampires. Drusilla was sired by Angelus, and she sired Spike. In my timeline, Angelus went back to them when he lost his soul.”

Giles considered that for a moment. “It perhaps would be helpful if Angel has information on them,” he said slowly. “And I assume you know where they’re hiding out?”

Buffy nodded. “They’re at a warehouse at the edge of town when they first arrive,” Buffy explained. “Oh, and Spike crashes Parent-Teacher Night. We should probably do something about that. My mom hit him with an axe.”

“Right,” Giles said, blinking. “Well, I suppose that has given us a few things to consider.” He got to his feet, and a bell rang. “You should get to class, Buffy. I’ll see you at lunchtime?”

Buffy gave a tight smile. “Yeah. Lunchtime.”

* * *

When Buffy returned to the library at lunchtime, she was only half-surprised to find Willow and Xander waiting for her.

“Hey,” Buffy greeted, before frowning at Willow’s nervous expression. “What’s up?”

“Ms. Calendar never showed for class,” the redhead explained with wide eyes. “Giles said it’s probably nothing to worry about, but-”

Without stopping to hear the rest of Willow’s sentence, Buffy turned and headed for Giles’s office. She flung the door open, not bothering to knock, and fixed her Watcher with a look.

“Buffy,” he said, looking round in surprise.

“So,” Buffy said, arms folded across her chest, “Ms. Calendar didn’t show up for work.”

Giles pursed his lips. “I heard. But Buffy, it’s the middle of the day. I, I’m sure she’s quite safe. Just under the weather, or something.”

“Or something,” Buffy echoed, before shaking her head. “I’m going over to her place.”

Wide-eyed, Giles hurried to follow her as she left his office. “I, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Buffy?”

But Buffy was already gone, the library doors swinging closed behind her.

“What was that about?” Xander asked with a frown.

Sighing, Giles very pointedly avoided the two teenagers’ worried gazes, and instead slipped behind the counter to deal with some recently-returned books. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

“If it’s nothing to worry about, why is Buffy going to Ms. Calendar’s in the middle of the day?” Willow asked shakily. “Is something wrong with her?”

It took a lot of Giles’s self-control to not snap at that. He knew Willow was just worried, but right now he really couldn’t muster all that much concern for a woman who had put these children in danger with her own wilful ignorance, nor could he explain just why Buffy was going to Jenny’s. Taking a breath to calm himself, he forced a reassuring smile. “Buffy just wants to check on her,” he said, hoping the children didn’t notice the fake sincerity in his voice. “We all had quite an ordeal last night, what with the Master, and Buffy thought it best to check in on Ms. Calendar.”

Then, before either of the children could say anything else, he turned on his heel and marched back into his office.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Buffy was bracing herself outside Ms. Calendar’s apartment, working up the courage to knock on the door. She wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, and the churning in her gut made her worry. Logically, she knew it was just nerves, but a tiny part of her couldn’t help but wonder if it was Slayer’s intuition, that something was wrong.

But moments after the knock, the door was opened slightly to reveal a bewildered Ms. Calendar.

“Buffy! Uh, what are you doing here?”

The door opened further, revealing Ms. Calendar in casual attire and her hair tied up haphazardly. She was wide-eyed as she took in the teen on her doorstep, and seemed a little uncomfortable with the unexpected visit.

“I came to see how you were,” Buffy said, frowning slightly. “Willow said you weren’t in class-” She trailed off as she looked past the computer science teacher and saw the sitting room filled with packing boxes. “Ms. Calendar, what’s going on?”

Looking a little guilty, the older woman glanced behind her at the packing boxes before back at the teenager. “I’m packing.”

“Packing,” Buffy echoed, giving Ms. Calendar a disbelieving look. “Why?”

The silence in response to the question was all Buffy needed. In a moment, she’d pushed past the teacher and into the apartment.

“But, but you can’t leave! What about your class? Who’s gonna replace you? And Willow! Willow won’t like that you’ve left-”

“Buffy-”

“And what about you and Giles?”

Ms. Calendar blinked at that, and shifted uncomfortably. “Buffy, Rupert and I... We aren’t a couple.”

“Not yet!” Buffy blurted out, before going wide-eyed.

The older woman responded to that with a frown, and quickly moved to shut the door. With the door shut, she turned her attention back to the now-uncomfortable Slayer in the middle of her sitting room.

“Buffy, what has Rupert been telling you?”

“Nothing! I swear! I mean, me and Xander walked in on him talking to a chair about asking you out-” She broke off, frowned, and muttered under her breath: “Has that happened yet?”

Ms. Calendar’s frown deepened. “Has what happened yet?”

Buffy swallowed, and tried to avoid the teacher’s gaze. “You know,” she said instead, “we’d really miss you if you moved away. I mean, obviously Willow would miss you lots because you’re, like, her favourite teacher, but... But I’d miss you too. And Xander would too, though I’m not sure he’d admit it.”

Ms. Calendar took a step forward. “Buffy, are you alright?”

Forcing a smile, the blonde nodded a little too eagerly. “Yep. Absolutely fine. Perfect.”  
But it was clear Ms. Calendar wasn’t convinced. “I’m calling Rupert. Maybe you should go home-”

“I’m fine, Ms. Calendar, honestly.”

“Buffy, this is the second time today that you’ve paid me a visit, and honestly I think this is the longest we’ve ever spent alone. You say you’re fine, but you’re talking about me and Rupert, and about knowing who I am and what my family did to Angel, and you won’t tell me how you know all this.” She tilted her head to one side. “Slayers have prophetic dreams, don’t they?”

“Yeah,” Buffy admitted, brow furrowed, “but that’s not what this is about.”

Ms. Calendar responded to that with a sigh. “Then I’m _definitely_ calling Rupert. Buffy, I know you might not believe me, but I’m worried. Where you’re getting this information, you talking about things that have or haven’t happened yet... It’s not normal.”

“Well,” Buffy tried to quip, forcing another smile, “that’s me. Totally-not-normal-girl.”

The technopagan said nothing and instead reached for the phone.

“Wait! I... I can tell you how I know, but you’re not allowed to tell anyone else,” Buffy said, wide-eyed.

There was a small frown on the older woman’s face, but she made no further move to pick up the phone or call Giles. Taking it as a good sign, the Slayer took a breath.

“I... I made a wish. Giles said it was some sort of... Of Vengeance Demon-”

“Buffy!” 

The concern in the teacher’s voice startled Buffy, and she looked at Ms. Calendar in surprise.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous Vengeance Demons can be?” Ms. Calendar asked, looking more than a little annoyed and concerned.

“No,” Buffy admitted. “But given yours and Giles’s reactions, I’m starting to piece it together.” Buffy sighed, and shook her head. “I didn’t even know Vengeance Demons existed until all this happened, and Giles says we should find a way to summon it and undo the spell-”

“You need to break the power centre,” Ms. Calendar interrupted calmly. “That’s where the power lies. It’s usually a piece of jewellery or something. A brooch, or a necklace, or something.”

Buffy frowned. “How do you know that?”

Ms. Calendar shrugged. “My family’s big on vengeance,” she reminded the teenager. “I did some of my own digging on the subject when I was your age. Some of it stuck.”

“Huh,” Buffy said, processing that. “Well, uh, Giles wanted me to undo the spell, but I’ve told him it’s not happening. He’s pretty annoyed at me because he’s convinced it’s a good idea, but I know what’s happening there, and it’s... It’s not of the good.”

“Buffy,” Ms. Calendar said, frowning at her, “I’m really not sure this is a decision you can make lightly.”

“I didn’t make it lightly,” Buffy countered with a small, tight smile that was more of a grimace. “Ms. Calendar, a lot of bad things happened because Angel lost his soul.”

Wide-eyed, the technopagan opened her mouth to say something, but Buffy continued talking.

“And I don’t blame you for not telling us who you were, and I know that your family didn’t tell you everything about the curse. But you know what Angelus is capable of. How can you ask me to go back there?”

Ms. Calendar was very quiet, and very still, and Buffy wasn’t sure she liked it. She didn’t know the woman very well, not like Willow or Giles did, and it was hard to get a read on the woman. Finally, the silence was broken.

“I’m assuming you’ve only told Rupert about this?”

Buffy nodded. “I’m not really up for having the conversation with Willow and Xander yet,” she admitted quietly. “I don’t really want to have it at all, but I know I can’t hide it from them forever.”

Ms. Calendar said nothing then, and Buffy shifted awkwardly.

“So, uh, are you still going to call Giles?”

* * *

In the end, Ms. Calendar didn’t call Giles, and she didn’t finish packing up her apartment. Instead, Buffy quietly helped unpack everything that had already been put into boxes.

“Why were you going to leave?” Buffy asked as she slipped some books back onto the shelves. “I mean, besides the whole Giles yelling at you thing.”

“I wasn’t leaving because Rupert yelled at me,” Ms. Calendar responded, though she didn’t sound wholly convincing. 

Buffy wasn’t sure why she felt confident enough to respond with what she did, but it slipped out before she could fully process what she was saying. “Ok, but that doesn’t answer my question.”

Thankfully, she caught a glimpse of a small smile on the older woman’s face in response.

“Oh, I don’t know. I mean, the Slayer finding out my family history is a pretty big reason. Then there’s the fact said Slayer is friends with the vampire my family cursed.”

“But nothing’s going to happen,” Buffy said then. “I mean, I know about the curse, and I’m not going to do anything that will make Angel lose his soul. So you don’t _have_ to leave.”

“I’m not leaving,” Ms. Calendar reminded her as she reached past Buffy to rearrange some of the books the teen had put on the shelf. “But Buffy, it’s not just about Angel potentially losing his soul.” She sighed then, moving across the room to drop onto the sofa. Buffy followed with a small frown. “I... I was scared. I didn’t even know that Angel could lose his soul until Rupert told me what you’d told him. He wouldn’t tell me how you knew, but...” She paled a little. “Well, it appears that you know more about Angelus than I do now. I only grew up on stories, you’ve actually met him.”

“Yeah, well, I wished really hard I hadn’t and look what happened.” Buffy grimaced.

The comment, however, got a slight twitch of a smile from Ms. Calendar before the woman sobered and spoke again. “My family never told me exactly why I had to monitor Angel; I’d always assumed it was a silly task to keep me busy. I was always a disappointment, always a let-down, and I thought that watching Angel was their way of involving me in the family business without giving me too much responsibility. Now, I realise, they probably gave me too much.”

Beside her, Buffy nodded morosely. “I get that,” she said quietly.

Ms. Calendar surveyed the teenager next to her for a moment. “Yeah, I suppose you do.”

“I mean, not just the responsibility part,” Buffy said, hesitant and eyes focused on a loose thread on her pants, “but the ‘disappointment’ part too.”

That made the older woman frown. “Who said you’re a disappointment?” 

Her tone was one of annoyance, and it made Buffy look up, a little bewildered.

“Oh, uh, well, nobody technically,” the girl admitted, now toying with the thread on her pants as she averted her gaze from Ms. Calendar’s face. “But my mom... Well, she doesn’t need to say it. I know I’m not who she wanted as a daughter.”

“Buffy-”

“I mean, not that she _knows_ I’m the Slayer, but that’s sort of the problem. I got kicked out of Hemery after burning the gym down- thanks to vampires- and then we had to move here to Sunnydale, and Snyder absolutely hates me, and Mom is always assuming I’m up to something bad, and I can’t ever talk to her about anything that’s happening. Did you know I had to lie to her about my prom dress? By the time I got home it was all dirty and horrible, and I told her that somebody had spilled a drink on it, and she wanted to get it dry-cleaned because it was nice and expensive and she wanted me to be able to wear it again. And it _was_ nice, and it _was_ expensive, and I’d seen it in the shop window and hadn’t even thought to ask Mom for it because it was too much, but she surprised me with it anyway. And then I went and died in it, and I couldn’t tell Mom why I didn’t want to have it dry-cleaned to wear again. So I lied, and told her that I _didn’t_ like it, and that I didn’t even know why she’d bought it in the first place.” 

Buffy sucked in a breath then, and shook her head, disgusted with her past self.

“You should have seen my mom’s face. I mean, she worked hard to pay for that dress, and she’d seen me looking at it for weeks and decided to buy it for me. And then I act like an ungrateful child who doesn’t appreciate what she does for me.” She met Ms. Calendar’s eyes. “Thing is, to Mom, that’s what I _am_. An ungrateful child who doesn’t care enough to keep an expensive dress clean, and who burns down buildings and gets in fights at school.”

“Buffy, I’m sure that’s not true.”

“It is,” Buffy shrugged. “I know it is. And I know I’m not the Slayer Giles wanted or expected, either.”

Ms. Calendar pursed her lips at that, filing the comments away for future reference but saying nothing. Instead, she stared across the room at the small, half-filled bookshelf and her eyes caught sight of the clock on the wall above it.

“You should probably get back to school,” she said, wincing as she saw the time. “You’ve already missed half a class.”

“I’m in no rush,” Buffy shrugged again.

Ms. Calendar gave her a look. “I’m sure you’re not, but I highly doubt your mother would be pleased with you missing class, and I don’t need another reason for either Snyder or Rupert to hate me even more.”

“Giles doesn’t hate you-” Buffy began quickly.

But she was waved off by the older woman, who then began ushering her to the door. “Don’t worry about Rupert and I, Buffy. Just get back to school, ok.”

Buffy eyed the teacher warily as she was pushed through the front door, and Ms. Calendar gave a small smile.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”

Then, before Buffy could respond to that, the door was shut in her face. With a sigh, she crossed her arms over her chest and set off for Sunnydale High.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next week, things returned somewhat to normal. Well, as normal as things could be considering Buffy knew the future, Ms. Calendar and Giles were being super awkward around one another, and Xander and Willow were caught in the middle of it all.

“Did something happen with Giles and Ms. Calendar?”

Buffy blinked at the question, turning away from her locker to survey the anxious Willow beside her. “What makes you say that?”

“W-Well, they’ve been really odd around each other,” Willow said, brow furrowed. “I mean, when Ms. Calendar came into the library the other day to take a look at the computer, she and Giles wouldn’t even look at each other!”

Trying not to think about Ms. Calendar packing up her apartment, the blonde instead forced a smile at her friend. “I’m sure they’re fine, Will.”

“Who’s fine?” Xander appeared beside them, hands shoved in his pockets and a small frown on his face.

“Giles and Ms. Calendar! They’re acting weird!” Willow was somehow managing to look even more anxious now Xander had arrived.

“Well, Will, most people are weird on the Hellmouth.” Xander’s face dropped then, and he looked to Buffy. “Do you think they’re possessed?”

The question was met with an eye roll. “Guys, come on. I’m sure Giles and Ms. Calendar are fine.” Buffy ignored the churning in her gut as she spoke, and instead slammed her locker shut and set off down the corridor. Her friends trailed after her.

“You know,” Xander said as he fell into step beside the Slayer, “now you mention it, they have been acting weird since you went all Barbarian on the Master’s bones.”

Clearly, they weren’t about to drop the issue any time soon, and Buffy had to take a quiet breath. Why did her friends keep questioning her? Had they figured out her secret? Were they suspicious? She tried to push her concern from her mind as she pushed open the door to the library, and hoped that Willow and Xander would change the subject so that Giles didn’t overhear. What Buffy hadn’t been expecting was to find an awkward Ms. Calendar and Giles staring wide-eyed at them from the middle of the library.

“Hey!” Xander grinned. “It’s Giles and Ms. Calendar! What are the chances?”

Willow elbowed him in the ribs, but it seemed to have no effect.

“I was just leaving,” Ms. Calendar said, as Giles shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

Willow looked upset about that. “Oh, you don’t have to!”

Waving the comment off, the computer science teacher moved towards the door. “I have work to grade, anyway.” She paused. “Will you three be attending the school football game this week? I think everyone else is going.”

Buffy’s eyes widened, and the two adults glanced between each other before turning to the teenager.

“Buffy?” Giles questioned. “Are you quite alright?”

“Uh, yeah,” the girl managed, still looking a bit wide-eyed. “I just... Can I talk to you for a moment? Ms. Calendar too.”

Ignoring the confused looks from Willow and Xander, Buffy allowed Giles to lead her and Ms. Calendar into his office.

* * *

“So,” Giles began once the door was shut behind them, “I assume this has something to do with our Vengeance Demon friend?”

Buffy nodded. “Yeah. Uh, you see there’s just a little problem about this week’s football game. Someone- well, Chris Epps’s brother Daryl- is going to kidnap Cordelia-”

“Buffy,” Ms. Calendar interrupted, a confused look on her face. “Daryl Epps died last year-”

“I know. Believe me. But Chris brought him back as, like, a zombie. I mean, he’s not going around eating brains or anything, it’s more of a _Frankenstein_ deal. That’s why he’s going to go after Cordelia. He doesn’t want to be alone anymore.”

The two adults gave each other alarmed looks at that.

“I assume you had a run-in with Daryl and Chris before your wish?” Giles asked. “What can you tell us about them?”

At the question, Buffy wrinkled her nose slightly. “ _Can_ I tell you? This isn’t one of those things like on TV where I tell you something and then everything gets messed up because I changed something I shouldn’t, is it?”

Giles blinked at her, but Ms. Calendar had a slightly amused smile on her face.

“Just tell us, Buffy,” the computer science teacher said. “Let us worry about the science fiction.”

“Well, uh, it started when I was out on patrol and I had an argument with Angel because he wouldn’t go for coffee with me,” Buffy recalled, wincing at the memory of her eagerness to date Angel. With hindsight it hadn’t been the best move, but at the time it had felt perfectly right. She pressed on quickly, not wanting to dwell. “We came across an empty grave, only it didn’t look like it was a vampire. It had been dug up, not crawled out of. Turns out, it wasn’t the only grave that had been robbed, and every single missing body belonged to a teenage girl. Turns out Chris and Eric were using body parts to make Daryl the perfect girlfriend. I tried to talk Chris out of it, but while I was with him Daryl decided to finish things up himself. He abducted Cordelia from the football game, and took her back to one of the science labs. We got there in time to stop him killing Cordy, but the lab went up in flames, and so did Daryl.”

Giles let out a sigh at that, and pulled his glasses off to polish them. “Do you know where Daryl is now?”

Buffy shrugged. “I’m guessing his house. I mean, I think that’s where they were doing all the work, anyway. I found... Photos and stuff. Of Cordelia, and, and,” she went pale.”

“Buffy?” Ms. Calendar prompted in concern.

“Uh, photos of other girls too. Me and Willow, I think maybe Harmony...” Buffy swallowed. “This isn’t just a ‘keep Cordelia safe’ thing, it’s a ‘figure out how to stop Daryl going after anyone’ thing.”

“Right,” Giles nodded as he slipped his glasses back on. “You say Chris and Eric have been robbing graves? Do you know when? Could we perhaps stop them from digging the bodies up?”

The Slayer gave a helpless shrug at that. “I don’t know. I mean, ok, the deaths were quite recently, so I guess there’s a chance. And obviously they had to move fast to keep the body fresh, but...” She trailed off with an apologetic look. “I know they were working out of the old science block, if that helps?”

Giles didn’t seem wholly satisfied, but he attempted to hide it. “Well, Ms. Calendar and I can, ah, look into that, I suppose. And Buffy? Perhaps it would be best for you to make some sort of list, regarding what you can remember happening?”

“Oh,” Buffy said, frowning a little. “Yeah, I guess.” She hadn’t thought of that.

The bell rang then, signalling the end of break.

“You should get to class,” Ms. Calendar told her with a small smile. “Don’t worry, Rupert and I can deal with this.”

Not knowing what to say, Buffy nodded and left the room.

* * *

“So, anything we need to know about?” Xander asked as they left school at the end of the day. “I mean, you and Giles and Ms. Calendar looked pretty cosy holed up in Giles’s office earlier.”

“Yeah, anything we can help with?” Willow added, anxious and eager to lend a hand.

Buffy forced a smile. “No, it’s all under control. Just something I’d heard. Figured I should tell a teacher about it.”

Both Xander and Willow deflated a little at that, apparently a little disappointed that there was nothing they could help with.

“Oh. Well, that’s good,” Willow said, sounding wholly unconvinced. “So, uh, what did you think about what Ms. Calendar said? The football game?”

The Slayer shrugged at that. She hadn’t been to a football game since Hemery. “I don’t know. Are you guys going?”

“We could swing by,” Xander said. “We’re not exactly big sports fans but the food’s always good.”

Willow nodded. “Yeah, and it can be fun. You know, joining in the school spirit and all.”

As chatter turned to the upcoming game, Buffy’s thoughts drifted to what Giles had said earlier. How many events did she know about? There was all the stuff with Spike and Drusilla of course, and a few other things on campus. She supposed she should start thinking of how to deal with Ford, as well as how to stop Kendra from going after Angel rather than Spike and Drusilla. Some things would be easy to avoid though, such as saving Xander from having smoochies with a life-sucking Inca princess, or nearly being sacrificed at a frat party with Cordelia.

It all felt like a lifetime ago, though. Before her life had gone horrifically wrong, before her boyfriend had turned against her and attacked her friends. What if she forgot something important and messed everything up? Would Giles be mad at her?

She suddenly became aware that a silence had settled over her friends, and looked up to find Willow and Xander watching her uncertainly.

“You alright there, Buff?”

She forced a smile. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s just been... You know, one of those days.” She forced a laugh. “I think I’m gonna head home. I’ve got a tonne of homework to do.”

She picked up her pace and set off along the sidewalk, giving her friends no time to reply.

* * *

As it was, Giles and Ms. Calendar had dealt with the Daryl Epps situation by the time Buffy spoke to them the following morning. The rest of the week passed rather uneventfully, and she even ended up attending the Razorbacks game with Willow and Xander. Ms. Calendar had been there too, as well as Giles, although they both swore they hadn’t gone together. Buffy knew that, last time, they’d gone to the game as a sort of first date. Maybe they were playing their cards close to their chest, not wanting any of the kids to know about the relationship yet. She hoped it was that, and that she hadn’t ruined things by spilling Ms. Calendar’s secrets to Giles.

But the following week, Ms. Calendar’s and Giles’s relationship was unceremoniously shoved from Buffy’s mind when Snyder pulled her into his office to discuss parent-teacher night. By the time she’d got out of there, she was silently cursing herself. She’d never actually sat down and made the list for Giles, and she’d not even begun to consider how she would deal with Spike crashing parent-teacher night again.

“Giles! I need help!”

The library was, predictably, empty and Buffy’s yell echoed through the room the moment she cleared the doors. Giles appeared from his office, a concerned look on his face at her shout.

“Buffy? What’s wrong?”

“Spike! Spike’s coming, and, and, he’s gonna crash parent-teacher night again and I don’t know how to stop him, and I know I already told you this a few weeks ago, but it totally went out of my head and-”

“Breathe, Buffy.” Giles steered her towards a chair and gently forced her into it. “Now, this Spike is the vampire you told me about, yes? Your mother ended up attacking him with an axe?”

“Yeah,” Buffy nodded. “He and Drusilla show up sometime this week, they’re in an old warehouse. Next Saturday’s supposed to be some big event, the, uh, feast of somebody or other.”

That made Giles frown. “Really? I wasn’t aware of any feast coming up.”

“I think Ms. Calendar told you about it last time,” Buffy supplied helpfully. “I don’t really remember, I was sort of wrapped up in the whole trying-not-to-get-expelled thing.” Her eyes grew wide. “Oh god!”

“Buffy?”

“Oh, _god_!” the teenager stood, and began to pace. “My mom! What am I gonna do about my mom?”

“I, I’m not sure I follow,” Giles admitted uncertainly.

“Last time, Snyder told my mom a bunch of stuff about me getting into fights and skipping class, and she was super angry with me, until Spike showed up and I got everyone out. Mom said she didn’t care about what Snyder said because she’d seen me help everyone and stand up to Spike. If Spike doesn’t crash parent-teacher night, my mom’s gonna believe everything Snyder tells her!”

The Watcher shifted uncomfortably, hands in his pockets. “Ah.”

“ _Ah_?” Buffy echoed. “That’s all you have to say? Giles!”

“W-Well, it’s certainly a dilemma,” Giles conceded, reaching for his glasses and pulling them off to polish them furiously. “But Buffy, we cannot allow a vampire to attack innocent people just so you look good in front of your mother.”

“I’m _not saying that_ , Giles.” Buffy huffed. “But do you have any idea how much trouble I’ll be in? Mom was _furious_ with me! She looks at me and sees a Sheila. A, a, smoking, drinking, school-skipping, teacher-stabbing troublemaker! And do you know what she said to me? When she found out about parent-teacher night? She told me that she didn’t want to move again, didn’t want to have to start another new business, didn’t want to be disappointed in me again! That’s what being the Slayer gets me, Giles! A mom who thinks that I’m some, some arsonist wild child going around getting kicked out of schools for fun! She thinks I’m doing it deliberately, or something!”

“Now, Buffy-”

“Am I interrupting?”

Both Watcher and Slayer looked round in surprise at the new voice. Ms. Calendar was stood awkwardly in the doorway, a concerned look on her face. 

“Jenny,” Giles greeted then, tone a little stiff. “Ah, Buffy and I were just discussing a Slayer matter.”

Buffy surveyed the two adults carefully at that, her own frustrations and concerns melting away for a moment. She’d hoped that the pair of them being at the football game had been a hint they were patching things up, particularly after they’d joined forces to stop Chris and Eric before things went too far. But now Giles was sounding stilted and detached, and a little harsh. Perhaps he and Ms. Calendar weren’t as alright as she thought.

“I heard,” Ms. Calendar said. “Anything I can do to help?”

“I, I don’t think so,” Giles said, turning back to Buffy.

But Ms. Calendar didn’t leave. Instead, she looked to Buffy with concern. “Is this about your mother again?”

“Again?” Giles looked between his Slayer and the computer science teacher with a frown. “What do you mean ‘again’?”

Buffy shifted uncomfortably in her chair, trying to find the words to explain the conversation she’d had with Ms. Calendar the day she stopped the teacher from leaving. “Uh, well, I just mentioned to Ms. Calendar... I mean, really, _she_ mentioned to _me_...”

Folding her arms across her chest, Ms. Calendar took over. “Buffy and I had a talk, two weeks or so ago now, when she told me about the Vengeance Demon. We got talking, and she admitted that she had some... Concerns about how her being the Slayer impacts her relationship with her mother.” She shrugged. “She was worried about how her mother views her behaviour.”

There was a heavy silence then, as Giles took that in, and finally he turned back to Buffy with a hurt frown on his face.

“Buffy?”

Buffy avoided his gaze, shrugging and examining her fingernails. “Like I said, Mom’s gonna be really mad if Snyder tells her about all the fights I get in, or all the classes I skip. And the fact I can’t give her answers as to why I’m fighting or skipping class...”

Giles sighed, pinching his nose and squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. “You should have come to me sooner. You should have spoken to me about this, rather than going to-”

“What, to me?” Ms Calendar’s voice was harsh and a little hurt. “Rupert, Buffy didn’t come to me to hurt you.”

A muscle jumped in the librarian’s jaw at that. “I never said she did.”

“Good.” Ms Calendar stepped further into the room. “So, what were you talking about? Parent-teacher night?”

“A vampire called Spike’s going to crash it,” Buffy said quickly. “Giles and I were talking about dealing with him before he, you know, takes out half the teachers, but last time it was me fighting Spike that convinced my mom not to listen to Snyder. Not that Mom knew Spike was a vampire, but it made her reconsider what Snyder had told her.”

“And without Spike attacking you’re worried your mom will believe everything Principal Snyder tells her,” Ms. Calendar finished with a nod.

Still apparently a little irate, Giles sniffed. “Buffy mentioned something about a feast happening this weekend. Apparently last time you were the one who brought it to my attention.”

Ms. Calendar frowned then. “Doesn’t ring a bell, but I can check it out. What do we do about Mrs Summers, though?”

The bell rang then, and Buffy huffed. “I have French class to get to,” she told them, reluctantly standing. “I have to go.”

The two adults watched her leave in silence.

“So,” Ms. Calendar said once the door was shut. “Are me and you going to talk?”

* * *

“I really don’t see how talking will solve much,” Giles grumbled even as he led Jenny into his office. 

“Well, apparently you’re still mad at me for not telling you who I really am,” Jenny countered, shutting the door behind her.

“I am not _mad_ ,” he scoffed. “I went to that ridiculous football game with you, didn’t I?”

“Yes, and you complained the whole time.”

“I didn’t-”

Jenny rolled her eyes, and began ticking points off on her fingers. “You described it as rugby with extra padding, you criticised the food choices, you complained about how long the game took. You even told the children that we’d gone separately.”

Giles flushed a little at that, averting his eyes. “Yes, well.”

“Do you know why Buffy was talking to me about her mom?” Jenny asked suddenly. “I was talking to her about how I hadn’t known all the details about Angel, and how I thought it was my family trying to keep me occupied. I told her that I’d brushed it off because I was such a disappointment to my family, and I hadn’t realised the responsibility they’d given me. Buffy said she understood that. Said she knew what it was like to be a disappointment. To her mother, and... And to you.”

Giles clenched his jaw, a flash of anger sparking through his eyes. “She’s not a disappointment.”

“I know, Rupert. But Buffy _believes_ she is. Having to keep this secret from her mother, the strain it puts on her... And she feels like she’s letting you down, too.”

The Watcher took a breath then, taking a few moments to process what he’d been told. “She has... Buffy has _never_ let me down. Not when it counted. And, and when she has, it has been, perhaps, because I have been too harsh on her. Sometimes I forget that she’s... That she’s just a child. She has such responsibility, such a burden on her shoulders. But for her to think that she’s a disappointment to me...” He shook his head.

“I’m not the one you need to be telling this to, Rupert,” Jenny pointed out quietly.

A silence settled over them for a good few seconds.

“I didn’t tell the children we attended the game separately to hurt you, you know.”

Jenny blinked at that, but before she could fathom a response, Giles was pressing on.

“I, I merely didn’t want them interfering. It’s odd enough that Buffy seems to know so much about our relationship, without Xander and Willow knowing as well.”

That made Jenny frown. “But you didn’t want my help earlier. You told me it was Slayer business.” She took a step closer, arms folded across her chest. “Which, you know, is a bit rich seeing as you had no problem with me helping with the Daryl Epps problem. You know, Rupert, I think we’re both a little old for you to be doing the whole ‘hot and cold’ routine on me.”

“H-Hot and cold?”

She nodded. “Yeah. You know, one moment everything between us is fine, the next you’re freezing me out. It’s something I’d expect from my students, not a forty year old.”

He flushed again at that, and stuttered. Jenny held her hand up.

“Let’s just focus on the problem at hand. We need to stop this Spike guy from attacking parents, and we need to stop Snyder from getting Buffy in trouble with her mother.” She eyed Giles carefully. “We can talk about us once we know Buffy’s alright.”

“Yes,” Giles said faintly, apparently a little surprised. “Quite right.”

“I’m supposed to be looking up something to do with a feast?”

“Yes. Please.”

Jenny nodded, and turned to leave.

“Ah, Jenny?”

She turned back. Giles shifted a little uncomfortably where he was stood.

“We... We will talk, won’t we?” There was a tinge of nervousness to his tone, and perhaps hope.

Jenny took a breath before answering. “Yes, Rupert. We will.”


	5. Chapter 5

The days approaching Parent-Teacher Night were tense and uncomfortable. While Ms. Calendar took to the net to find out more about the impending so-called feast, Giles had thrown himself into researching Spike in an effort to construct a plan of action, and the teens were left in the middle of it all. Just as last time, Sheila bailed on the banner-making, and just as last time Buffy looked up mid-painting to see Giles and Ms. Calendar approaching.

“I found out about this feast you mentioned,” the computer science teacher said as way of greeting. “It’s the Night of St. Vigeous. Some people refer to it as the Feast of St. Vigeous, because he led a crusade of vampires who slaughtered everyone in their path.”

Buffy just nodded. Now that she was hearing it again, everything was clicking into place in her brain.

“And these vampires are gonna, what? Relive their glory days?” Xander asked with a frown.

“They’re hoping to replicate the crusade, yes,” Giles admitted, frowning a little at the boy’s wording.

Buffy let out a sigh at that. “Well, this all sounds great, but what does this mean about tomorrow night? I mean, how do we stop Spike from jumping the gun, and how do we stop Snyder from ratting me out to my mom?”

At her questions, the two adults shared a nervous look, before they both looked to Willow and Xander. The teens were flanking the Slayer, apparently oblivious to the awkwardness their presence was causing.

“We can help with that, Buffy,” Willow said with a reassuring smile.

“Yeah,” Xander nodded. “I’ll whittle stakes.”

“A-And I can research stuff.”

“And while I’m whittling, I plan to whistle a jaunty tune.”

Giles shifted then, sensing that Willow’s and Xander’s comments weren’t doing much to reassure Buffy. “Perhaps, ah, we should discuss this further once you’re done with your preparation for tomorrow night?” He looked up then, as he saw Snyder making his way towards them. He turned to Ms. Calendar, a little wide-eyed. “Shall we go?”

Ms. Calendar, who had also seen Snyder, nodded quickly. “Mm, let’s.”

Buffy rolled her eyes as the adults scarpered. Taking a breath, she turned and fixed the principal with a smile.

“Principal Snyder. What can I do for you?”

* * *

Having bailed Sheila out and finished the banner for the following night, Buffy was finally able to make it to the library at just before four that evening.

“Buffy,” Giles greeted as she entered. “No Willow or Xander?”

“I told them to head home,” Buffy admitted. “Figured it would be easier to talk without them here.”

Giles nodded at that, but then Ms. Calendar emerged from his office, a slight frown on her face. 

“Maybe you should consider what exactly you’re going to tell Willow and Xander about all this. This is the second time we haven’t involved them in something, and they are your friends.” 

At that, Buffy shifted uncomfortably. “But I still don’t know what to tell them,” she said, voice small. “It’s weird, me knowing the future.” Something clicked in her head then, and she dug through her bag, pulling out a folded piece of paper and holding it out to Giles. “I couldn’t sleep last night, I made that list you wanted.”

Giles took it, unfolding the paper and scanning over it for a moment before nodding and pocketing it. “I think our most pressing matter is Spike. You said he attacked the Parent-Teacher Night with some minions?”

“They were working with the Anointed One,” Buffy nodded. “Spike just sort of... Commandeered them.”

The Watcher hummed thoughtfully at that. “So you don’t know how many of them there are?” He looked to Ms. Calendar. “We were thinking, perhaps, going on the attack. But if we can’t be sure how many of them there are, perhaps we need to be thinking more along the lines of protecting the school.”

“Have you heard from Angel recently?” Ms. Calendar asked suddenly. “Perhaps he could help with keeping the vampires away?”

At the mention of the other vampire, Buffy’s cheeks flushed slightly and she looked away for a moment. “Haven’t seen him since the stuff with the Master’s bones,” she admitted with a shrug. “But I guess I could swing by tonight.”

“Maybe you should get him now,” Giles suggested. “We have a few hours, we could strategise. And perhaps we should call Willow and Xander back?”

The teenager sighed, but nodded at the suggestion. “Fine. You guys get Xander and Will, I get Angel?” She turned to leave, before freezing and turning back. “Uh, Giles, I know it doesn’t sound super important right now, but have you figured out what’s gonna happen with my mom? ‘Cause I’d really like to not be grounded.”

A heavy silence settled over the library at her question, and her heart sank.

“Well,” Giles managed after a long pause, “I’m not entirely sure what to do. I, I suppose I could have a talk with Principal Snyder, though I’m not sure if I could persuade him to not talk to your mother. There’s always, ah, a spell or two but I’d rather not-”

“It’s fine,” Buffy cut in, grimacing a little at the mention of magic. “So, no luck then, huh? Maybe it won’t be that bad. Maybe I’ll only be grounded for a few months.” She sighed. “I should go get Angel.”

She turned to leave again, but Giles’s voice stopped her.

“Buffy?”

She turned back with a frown. Giles was wearing a sad expression horribly similar to the one he’d worn when she’d thrown a book at his head for telling her about the prophecy of her dying.

“I’m sorry.”

She gave a small, sad smile. “I know.”

* * *

The first thing that entered Buffy’s mind when Angel opened the door to his apartment was that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

“Uh, hi,” she said, cheeks flushing as she dragged her gaze up to his eyes.

“Hi,” Angel said in response. “I haven’t seen you around much recently. Everything ok?”

“I’ve been busy. You know, school, slaying...” She forced a tight smile. “Giles told me to come get you. Uh, some vampires are gonna attack the school tomorrow night during Parent-Teacher Night and obviously it would be good that _didn’t_ happen, so we need to come up with a plan.”

“Sure,” Angel nodded. “Come in for a minute.” He stepped away from the door, moving to grab a soft sweater from a chair. When he turned, he found Buffy nervously still hovering in the doorway. He squinted. “You ok?”

Buffy nodded quickly, forcing a smile. “Yeah. I’m good.” Honestly, being back in Angel’s apartment was uncomfortable. She couldn’t help but think about the night she’d spent in his bed, and about how he’d talked to her after losing his soul. Maybe she should have had Giles or Ms. Calendar come to collect him instead.

“So, these vampires,” Angel spoke up after he’d slipped the sweater on, “why are they attacking the school?”

“Some special date.” Buffy shrugged. “You know how it is. Ms. Calendar said it’s the Night of some saint. Vicious, or something.”

The vampire’s eyes flashed at that, and he looked to the Slayer in alarm. “The Night of St Vigeous?” He frowned. “That’s not until Saturday.”

Fiddling with the hem of her shirt, Buffy spoke again. “Well, Spike doesn’t like to wait, apparently.”

She’d never thought it possible for vampires to go pale, seeing as they had no blood to rush anywhere. But somehow, Angel seemed to manage it.

“Spike?” He echoed. “How do you know about Spike? Is he here?”

“And Drusilla,” Buffy informed him. “Uh, they might not be here yet, but if they’re not they’re on their way.”

“Slayer dream?”

For a moment, Buffy considered lying. Honestly, she was tempted. But she was already lying to so many people it just sounded exhausting. “No.”

“Then how do you know about Spike and Drusilla?”

She took a breath. “I... Made a wish. I got sent back to September this year from Spring next year.”

Angel’s jaw clenched. “You...” He let out a frustrated huff. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? What did you mess with? Buffy?”

“It was a Vengeance Demon,” she admitted then, tone a little sharp and defensive at Angel’s questions. “And I didn’t exactly mean to do it.”

Somehow that made Angel more irate. “So you accidentally made a wish in front of a Vengeance Demon and got sent back in time? Why don’t you just break the wish? Have you told Giles about this?”

“Giles knows,” Buffy said, frowning a little. “And I can’t break the wish. I know what that means, and I know what that will cost, and it’s not an option.”

“Buffy-”

“No! It’s _not_ an option, Angel.”

Another jaw clench from the vampire. “Maybe Giles hasn’t explained this very well, but making a wish with a Vengeance Demon is big, Buffy. You alter a lot of things, some of which shouldn’t be altered. And while you might think what you’re doing is good, or right, this isn’t your world. This shouldn’t be happening. You need to undo the spell and go back to where you came from-”

“You mean where you lost your soul and killed Ms. Calendar?”

A sudden, deafening silence settled over the apartment. Buffy hadn’t meant to say what she’d said, and Angel was staring at her with wide, confused eyes.

“Buffy? What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” She shook her head, looked away.

But then Angel was there, a hand on her chin, gently forcing her to look at him. “Buffy?”

She took a breath. “Your curse. It turns out it can be broken. And when it gets broken, you go away and Angelus takes over. And when Angelus took over, Ms. Calendar paid the price.”

Angel swallowed thickly. “W-Why? Why Ms. Calendar? I mean, I barely know her.”

“I know,” Buffy agreed quietly. “But she knows you. Turns out, you and her family go way back. As in, to the moment you were cursed.”

Realisation dawned in his eyes, and he took a step back from her, suddenly uncomfortable. “And that’s why you made the wish? Because I killed Ms. Calendar.” He surveyed her for a moment. “Which one of us were you trying to save?”

The teenager shrugged and looked away. “Does it matter?”

“I just... I thought you and me...” He trailed off uncomfortably, giving a shrug of his own. “Maybe I was wrong.”

The Slayer knew she shouldn’t ask, knew she should leave well enough alone, but... “What did you think, Angel?”

He met her eyes cautiously. “That, maybe, there was something between us. Was there?”

Buffy had no idea how to answer that, not wanting to discuss with him the reasons why he lost his soul, or what had happened between them. It was a moot point, anyway. He wasn’t going to lose his soul, and they would never sleep together. Why tell him things he didn’t need to know?

“I just, I thought you were, maybe... Falling for me.”

A small, sad smile crossed her lips then. “I fell for you a long time ago.” She let out a sigh. “Which is why it might be better for us not to be around each other.”

Angel tilted his head a little at that, confused and calculating. “Alright,” he agreed. “Are you going to tell me why?” His face dropped. “Does it have something to do with Ms. Calendar?”

Buffy ignored the question and instead nodded towards the door. “We should get back to school. Giles is waiting.”

Angel surveyed her for a moment, before nodding. He let Buffy lead the way.

* * *

When Buffy and Angel arrived at the library, Willow and Xander were already nose-deep in some books.

“What if we covered the whole school in garlic?” Xander asked. “I mean, vampires hate garlic, right?”

“We don’t love it,” Angel spoke up before Giles could answer, alerting the group to his and Buffy’s presence, “but it’s not exactly going to keep us out.”

“Shame,” Xander said, shooting Angel a dark look.

“What about some sort of force-field?” Willow suggested then, tapping at a page in a book. “Could we, like, repel them?”

Giles glanced at the book with a frown. “I’m not sure I’d be able to manage that spell alone,” he admitted slowly. “I’m rather rusty. It requires some power.” 

He looked to Ms. Calendar, who moved closer to the table to take a look. She glanced over it before shrugging. 

“I could lend a hand,” she admitted, “but I’m not sure I’d be much help. This isn’t my sort of magic.”

Willow read over the passage detailing the spell again. “Well, w-what if I helped? If it’s strength in numbers we need, maybe I could give it a go?”

The two adults shared a look, before glancing to Buffy who merely shrugged.

“Well, we only have twenty-four hours to prepare,” Ms. Calendar said cautiously, “but that could work?”

“And what if it doesn’t?” Buffy asked. “I mean, not that that doesn’t sound like a great plan, but none of you sound too certain about it.”

“Spike and Drusilla are strong,” Angel said then, stepping forward. He eyed Ms. Calendar a little warily, something that Giles seemed to notice, but then he pulled his gaze away to address the room at last. “You’re going to need more than some rushed magic to keep them out.”

“We’re not dealing with Drusilla, though,” Buffy said quickly. “Just Spike.”

Xander frowned then. “And who are Drusilla and Spike, exactly?”

Buffy shifted then, and considered her words carefully. “Vampires. Uh, Angel tipped me off about them. They’re either already here, or they’re gonna be here. Spike’s planning on leading the attack against the school tomorrow.”

“Oh, _Angel_ told you,” Xander said loudly. “Well _that’s_ not cause for concern.”

Willow elbowed him in the ribs.

“Yes, well,” Giles said awkwardly then, drawing the attention back to him. “What matters is we know that Spike will launch an attack tomorrow, and given that the school is a public building and he can walk right in, we need to be prepared for a fight. The force-field is a good idea, but it may only keep him at bay for a while, if at all.”

“Well, what about forgetting magic and going straight for weapons?” Xander suggested then.

“You wanna hand the parents stakes as they walk in for Parent-Teacher Night?” Buffy questioned, arching an eyebrow.

“I was thinking for us, actually,” Xander responded. “And I wasn’t thinking stakes. See, you have to get close with stakes. And I’m gonna guess this Spike guy is someone we don’t want to be too near. But I know the toy store in Maple Court has some Super Soakers in stock. Fill ‘em up with holy water and let’s go.”

A silence then, even as the teen grinned happily at his own idea.

“You want to fight vampires with water pistols?” Giles asked uncertainly.

“Super Soakers,” the boy clarified.

It was Angel who responded, apparently as unconvinced as the Watcher. “And there’s a difference?”

“Look, we’re not talking some little water pistol you get out of a cereal box,” Xander explained, rolling his eyes. “These things are big. They can take a whole soda bottle of water at a time. It might not be enough to dust a vampire, but it would give them a hell of a burn.”

A slow smile was spreading across Willow’s face then. “Oh, oh, and we could fill some bottles too, so we can refill quickly!”

“So what’s the plan?” Ms. Calendar asked them. “Were you thinking of waiting outside?”  
Xander went to answer, but Buffy spoke over him with a frown on her face.

“Not to ruin this idea, but you guys do realise we’re talking about, like, a dozen vamps? Maybe more? I’m not sure the Super Soakers will be enough.”

“Then we use buckets,” Xander shrugged. He looked to Giles. “Think we could get on the roof of the building?”

That made the older man sigh. “Even if we could get to the roof, Buffy’s right. We’d be sorely outnumbered. I’m not sure we could prevent all the vampires from getting into the school. Particularly not with Jenny- ah, Ms. Calendar-, Willow, and I tied up with the force-field.”

“Could we use the force-field to trap them?” Willow asked then. “You know, don’t use it to protect the school but to circle the vampires?”

“Maybe,” Angel said uneasily, “that could work. But like I said, I’m not sure it would hold them for long.”

“So, Giles, Willow, and Ms. Calendar trap them, and me, you, and Buffy take them on with the Super Soakers.” Xander shrugged.

“I’m not using a water pistol,” Angel responded, jaw tight.

“Then what else do you suggest?” Xander retorted. “Because so far, all you seem to have done is shoot down our ideas.” 

The vampire shifted in annoyance, eyes flashing, and Buffy sighed.

“Xander, can you get the Super Soakers tomorrow after school?”

The teen nodded eagerly, and the Slayer turned to Giles.

“And Giles, do we have enough holy water for this? I mean, we’re not gonna get halfway through and find out we’re out, right?”

“I-I can stock up on some more, just to be certain, but we should have enough.”

Buffy gave a nod at that. “Ok. So I’d say we’ve got our plan. Willow, you think you’ll be alright helping Giles and Ms. Calendar with the spell?”

The redhead nodded eagerly at the question. “Oh, sure! I mean, if I could take a copy home with me tonight to study, that would be great, but I could come in early tomorrow if I need to.”

“I can write it out for you,” Giles said then, snagging the book from the table. “And Xander, would it be possible for you to pick up an extra couple of, ah, Super Soakers from the store, just in case. I’ll reimburse you, of course.”

Xander nodded. “Sure.”

Beside Buffy, Angel shifted uncomfortably. “Well, uh, it seems like you guys have this under control.”

Five pairs of eyes turned to face him at that, and he gave a tight nod before turning on his heel and leaving the library.

“Well,” Xander said as the library doors swung closed. “He was helpful.”

Ms. Calendar tried to catch Buffy’s eye, but the Slayer averted her gaze. Whatever the older woman wanted to ask, she didn’t want to talk about it.

* * *

It was another forty minutes before Willow and Xander had headed home again, promises made about spells and Super Soakers as they left. Finally alone with just Giles and Ms. Calendar, Buffy braced herself for the questions.

She knew that Giles had noticed how Angel had reacted to Ms. Calendar, and she was pretty certain Ms. Calendar had noticed too. Surely they were going to ask. But for five minutes, Buffy sat in silence at the table, watching as the adults packed away books and checked on the stock of holy water. Finally, the silence was driving the teenager mad.

“Aren’t you guys going to ask about Angel?”

Ms. Calendar paused in the middle of counting out vials of holy water. “What is there to ask?”

“Lots of things!” Buffy countered, wide-eyed. “What’s happening with us, whether I told him about the wish, how much he knows I know about Spike and Drusilla...”

“Buffy,” Giles interrupted tiredly, apparently mostly just to stop her talking, “did you tell Angel about your run-in with the Vengeance Demon?”

“Yeah.”

The adults shared a look, before Giles nodded and Ms. Calendar shrugged.

“Ok,” Ms. Calendar said.

The pair of them went back to what they’d been doing then, leaving the teenager bewildered.

“That’s it? You’re not gonna tell me off? You’re not gonna complain about me telling him, or ask what I said?”

“Did you tell him that he lost his soul?” Ms. Calendar asked then, tone quite conversational given the subject matter.

“Yeah.”

“Did you tell him how he _lost_ his soul?”

“No.” Buffy swallowed. “I-I couldn’t. But he knows that I can’t undo the spell.”

It was Giles who spoke then, as he shelved the last book and turned to face his Slayer. “Buffy, can I ask what exactly you expected us to say or do about you telling Angel?"

The question seemed to stump her, and she managed a shrug as she wrinkled her nose in thought. “I don’t know,” she admitted softly. “I just figured you’d get annoyed. That it was something I wasn’t meant to go around telling everyone about.”

The Watcher responded by shoving his hands in his pockets and slowly making his way around the table until he could perch on the edge of it, just beside Buffy’s chair.

“You shouldn’t go around telling _everyone_ about it, no,” he agreed calmly. “But we’re not talking about everyone. We’re talking about Angel. He likely would have found out sooner or later anyway, so you telling him isn’t much of a problem.”

Buffy was busy staring at her fingernails though, picking at some polish there. Giles sighed.

“Buffy, please look at me.”

The teen raised her head slowly, brow slightly furrowed and eyes betraying her nervousness. “Is this where the ‘but’ comes in?”

That made Giles frown. “The ‘but’? There is no ‘but’, Buffy. You told one person, who likely would have found out the truth anyway, and who is a trusted ally to us. A-And I daresay that telling Angel he could lose his soul will make him carefully consider his actions. I’m not angry at you, o-or annoyed, or frustrated, or any other word you can think of. You haven’t let me down or disappointed me, and I know that this situation is... Well, it’s difficult. And I think it will be difficult for a very long time. However, you will always have my help, and the help of Ms. Calendar, and of your friends. I hope you know that.”

Buffy blinked at that, apparently a little uncertain about what to say. “Uh, thanks.”

Giles gave a small smile in response. “You should probably get home. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

* * *

The school day passed uneventfully, and the moment last period let out Xander was on his way to purchase the Super Soakers. The girls waited in the library, Willow poring over the copy of the spell she was going to help Giles and Ms. Calendar do while Buffy prepped snacks for Parent-Teacher Night. 

“So,” Ms. Calendar said loudly as she breezed into the library, a mug of coffee in one hand and several books under her opposite arm, “we ready for tonight? Willow?”

The redhead gave a grin and an eager nod at the spell. “I spent all night practicing my pronunciation,” she said. “‘Cause, you know, that’s important. A-And I think I’ve pretty much got it memorised, too.”

“We don’t need it memorised, Willow,” Ms. Calendar reminded the teen with a small smile. “Just so long as you can read it well enough.” 

The girl’s face fell at that, a little down-heartened that she hadn’t needed to learn it off by heart.

“But,” the computer science teacher continued quickly, “it’s always good when you’re doing magic with someone who’s put the extra effort in.”

Willow brightened again at that, clearly happy with the praise. Ms. Calendar gave her a warm smile before setting her books down on the counter and moving towards where Buffy was prepping snacks at the table.

“Buffy,” the older woman greeted a little uncertainly. “How are you doing?”

The girl in question managed a small, tight smile and a shrug. “Good, I guess. I mean, I made lemonade and didn’t forget the sugar this time, so...”

Ms. Calendar gave a tight smile at that, before they both felt eyes on them. They moved their gaze to Willow, who was frowning at them in confusion.

“Will?” Buffy asked then.

“Huh? Oh, nothing.” The other girl forced a smile. “Uh, I guess I should start with the stake-whittling.”

She reached for some wood and a knife, pointedly avoiding Ms. Calendar’s and Buffy’s gazes. There was an awkward silence for a long moment, before it was finally broken.

“Is Giles in his office? I need to return these books to him.” Ms. Calendar indicated the books under one arm.

“Yeah,” Buffy nodded, still surveying her friend cautiously. “He is.”

The teacher swept away then, apparently unable to stand the awkwardness any longer. Once she had disappeared into the office, Buffy rounded on Willow.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” Willow asked, wide-eyed and an innocent expression on her face.

The blonde rolled her eyes. “You know what, Will.”

At that, Willow flushed, shrugged, and turned back to her whittling. “Nothing. I just... You and Ms. Calendar seem to really be getting along.”

Shifting uncomfortably in her chair, Buffy considered her response for a moment. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“N-No! I just... I thought you didn’t really like her all that much. I mean, not that I thought you hated her or anything, but you’ve never really talked to her before.” Willow frowned.

“Well,” Buffy said then, “she and Giles seem to get on, a-and you like her. I figured I should make more of an effort. Particularly if her and Giles will be making with the smoochies anytime soon.”

That made Willow glance to the office door before looking back to her friend. “You think so?” There was a tinge of excitement in her voice.

Buffy surveyed the door for a long moment. “Just call it Slayer’s intuition.”


	6. Chapter 6

When Xander returned to school with the Super Soakers, everyone was surprised to see Cordelia on his heels.

“Cordelia,” Giles greeted with a small frown. “What can I do for you?”

The girl huffed, arms folded across her chest. “Xander said that some vampires are gonna attack the school tonight, and if I don’t want to die I should come help.” She surveyed the items scattered across the library table- books, half-whittled stakes, snacks Buffy was preparing. Then, she looked to Xander. “I’m sorry, you’re really going to use Super Soakers against vampires?”

Xander deposited the bags containing half a dozen Super Soakers on the table and looked at her. “You got a better idea?”

Willow smirked a little. “Cordelia, didn’t you _bite_ a vampire once?”

The girl shrugged. “He bit me first,” she said, as though that were a perfectly good reason.

“You bit a vampire?” Ms. Calendar asked then, looking a little bewildered. “When was this?”

“The night of the Spring Fling,” Cordelia explained, looking unbothered by it all. “You know, vampires attacking the school, squiggly demons trying to drag Willow to hell, Buffy dying and then throwing a vampire through the roof?”

An awkward silence settled over the room then, as everyone stared at one another.

“I thought you knew.” Cordelia dropped into a seat and reached for some of the snacks Buffy had been preparing.

The Slayer slapped her hand away, and Giles gave Cordelia a frown.

“Y-You shouldn’t have done that. It was an incredibly silly thing to do.”

“Well, it’s not like I was turned into an ugly vampire,” Cordelia pointed out. “Besides, I bit him harder than he bit me. I was the biter, not the bitee.”

“Yes, but you have no idea where that vampire had been,” Giles huffed out.

Another awkward silence as everyone processed that. As it sank in, Cordelia pulled a horrified face, while Buffy, Willow, and Xander shared small, amused smirks.

“So let me get this straight,” Xander spoke up. “You’re not angry Cordelia bit a vampire because she could be turned. You’re angry she bit a vampire because it’s unhygienic?”

Across the table from him, Cordelia was looking a little green.

“Xander,” Giles said, his best lecture voice on, “vampires come out of the ground. They live in crypts and cemeteries, and are quite dead. Do you really think it’s a good idea to bite one?”

It was at that point that Ms. Calendar rolled her eyes and intervened. “Xander, why don’t you start getting those water guns out of the packaging? We need to start preparing for tonight.”

* * *

By the time the parents were starting to arrive, Buffy was practically vibrating nervousness.

“You’ll be fine,” Willow said as she helped Buffy carry the snacks and lemonade to the lounge where some tables were set up. “There’s no way Snyder can be angry with all of this!”

Buffy just gave her friend a look. She felt sick. She knew that Snyder would still be angry; she knew he was going to say horrible things to her mother. There was no way around it, and no way she could tell Willow. So instead, she tried to muster a smile as she set the snacks down on the table.

“And hey,” Willow continued cheerfully, “you even did it all without Sheila’s help!”

The blonde very nearly dropped the lemonade at that. Sheila. She’d forgotten about Sheila. Sheila, who had probably already been turned. She dumped the lemonade on the table, and turned to run back to the library, ignoring Willow as she called her name in concern. She flung open the library doors with such force that the occupants of the room looked up in shock.

“Buffy?” Giles asked, quickly moving towards her. “What’s the matter?”

“Sheila!” she gasped out. “T-They got Sheila!”

Giles stilled for a moment then, before quickly moving to steer Buffy towards his office. Once inside, he shut the door behind them and gently pushed Buffy down to sit in his office chair.

“Are you sure?” he asked quietly, surveying her with slight concern.

“Yeah. She’s gonna show up tonight, all vamped out.” Buffy clenched her jaw then, shaking her head as she refused to meet her Watcher’s eyes. “I forgot about her, Giles. I was so busy worrying about Snyder bad-mouthing me to Mom that Sheila _died_.”

“Buffy,” Giles sighed then, hands in his pockets and looking somewhat uncomfortable, “we are in uncharted waters. It isn’t your fault that Sheila died.”

“But-”

“No buts.” He shifted awkwardly for a moment, before crouching in front of her to meet her gaze. “I know you made this wish to try a-and fix your mistakes. But there are some mistakes we can’t fix. It is not your job, Buffy, to save everybody in the world all the time.”

“Isn’t it?” She was aware she sounded bitter, but she didn’t care. “What about ‘one girl in all the world’?”

“Well, yes. But unfortunately, we cannot always win. And the loss of a life... I understand that Sheila’s death will weigh heavily on you, a-and it is one of the reasons why you are such a good Slayer. You care about people, the people you save and the people you don’t. But answer me this; do you know how and when Sheila was turned?”

That made Buffy furrow her brow. “No.”

“Then Buffy, how could you possibly have saved her? Now, we have a school full of people it is your duty to protect tonight. Are you going to do that?”

She clenched her jaw, gave a determined nod. A small, fond smile spread across Giles’s face. He stood from his crouched position.

“Then you’d better get out there before Snyder comes looking for you.”

* * *

Buffy had barely arrived back in the student lounge before she spotted her mom and Willow talking.

“Buffy,” Joyce greeted. “Did you, uh, do all this?” 

The teenager watched as her mother took in the decorated student lounge, trying for a smile. It turned out it was pretty hard to act like everything was fine when you knew you’d be getting grounded in the next couple of hours. 

It was then that she spotted Snyder making his way towards them, and Buffy recalled that she’d probably be carted off school premises once he and her mother had spoken. But Spike wasn’t due to arrive until the end of the night.

“Hey, Will, why don’t you go show my mom around? I’ve got to stay here, supervise the...” She looked at the table. “Uh, carrot sticks.”

Thankfully, Willow took the hint, and happily carted Joyce off in the opposite direction just moments before Snyder reached the snack table.

“Was that your mother?”

“Uh, yeah,” Buffy said, shifting uneasily. “Yeah, I was gonna introduce you, but, um, she wouldn’t have said much. You know, she doesn’t speak a word of English.”

Snyder fixed her with a look then, and Buffy grabbed blindly at a tray of snacks. 

“Carrot stick?”

* * *

Just as last time, Willow managed to keep Joyce and Snyder apart for much of the evening, but Buffy knew it was only a matter of time before the plan failed. Besides, at some point Willow would have to make her escape to help Giles and Ms. Calendar with the spell. She’d informed Giles earlier about Spike and the vampires showing up just before the end of the night, and she could only hope everyone in the library was prepared.

Almost on cue, Cordelia showed up then.

“Giles has us locked up in that library working on your weapons,” she informed the blonde. “Even slaves get minimum wage.” She scrutinised Buffy’s face. 

“What?” Buffy asked, rolling her eyes as she recalled just what the girl was going to say. “Let me guess, you’d like to critique my make-up?”

“It’s not my fault you seem to be skipping foundation.” Cordelia shrugged.

“Look, Cordelia, just tell me everyone in the library’s ready?”

At that, the girl nodded. “Giles sent me to find Willow. They want to head on out and prepare for the attack.” She frowned. “I can’t believe you’re making us fight them with water guns. It’s so _Scooby-Doo_.”

Buffy shook her head at the comment, choosing not to respond, and felt her stomach flip when she saw her mom and Willow approaching. 

“Well,” Joyce said as she reached Buffy, “I believe that I have seen every classroom on campus, and just as I get there all your teachers miraculously have stepped out.”

Behind Joyce, Willow gave Buffy a proud smile at that. Buffy tried for a smile, but as she saw Snyder approaching, it quickly faded again. She swallowed thickly. There was no escaping, she knew.

“Mrs Summers?” he asked as he reached the group. “Principal Snyder. I’m afraid we need to talk. My office is down here.”

He turned then, leading the way without checking to see if Joyce was following. The three teenagers watched them go, Cordelia apparently quite amused by the whole situation. Buffy let out a sigh.

“You did such a good job,” Willow said, sounding upset. “Why isn’t he saying that?”

Buffy shook her head. “Forget it, Will.”

“When they’re done talking...” Cordelia grinned.

“I know, I know, I’m grounded forever.” Buffy shot the girl a look before looking to Willow. “Giles and Ms. Calendar want you. I think they wanna get started.”

* * *

Buffy accompanied Willow and Cordelia back to the library. She already knew what the outcome of her mom’s and Snyder’s talk would be, so she didn’t see any point in waiting around to find out. Besides, she had a job to do.

Xander proudly handed both Cordelia and Buffy a Super Soaker, and Buffy looked across the room to see Angel sulking and gripping his own.

“This will work, right?” Buffy said as she surveyed the brightly coloured plastic in her hands.

“Should do,” Xander shrugged. “I offered to test it out, but tall, dark, and brooding over there wouldn’t let me.”

“I’m not being your guinea pig,” Angel snapped back.

Ignoring the bickering, Buffy turned to Giles. “They’re gonna try coming in through the lounge window. I have no idea if they’re already out there, though.”

“I recall you saying as much last night,” Giles said calmly. “Now, we’ll drop the spell the moment you’re ready to attack, but everybody needs to be ready. We don’t want a single vampire getting in the school.” He gave them all a look then. “If you’re ready, I think we should head out now.”

They stocked up on stakes and soda bottles of holy water then, school bags being converted and pockets filled to carry all the supplies. Even Giles and Ms. Calendar scooped up a Super Soaker each, and soon they were filing out of the library and towards the nearest exit.

“Buffy?”

Cordelia and Xander both looked around at the sound of Joyce calling Buffy’s name, apparently searching for her suddenly-missing daughter, but Buffy only walked faster.

“Uh, Buff?” Xander said then.

“Not now.” The Slayer kept walking.

They filed out of the exit, Willow, Giles, and Ms. Calendar leading the way, and soon they were making their way around the edge of the school in the dark. Giles peered around the building for a second, before turning to look at Ms. Calendar and Willow. 

“They don’t seem to be here just yet. But we need to spread out if we’re going to trap them. Willow, you stay here. Jenny, see if you can make it to that tree over there,” he pointed as he spoke. “I’ll see if I can make it over to those bushes.”

The teenagers watched then as both Giles and Ms. Calendar peeled off from the group, sprinting through the darkness to their hiding places.

“They look ridiculous,” Xander said quietly, sounding a little in awe of the situation.

They did. The juxtaposition between the teachers’ clothing and the bright plastic of the Super Soakers would have made the teens laugh if it weren’t such a dire situation.

“Maybe we should spread out too,” Angel said then, startling the teens. They’d forgotten the vampire was there.

But before they could begin to discuss that a figure appeared, walking towards the school. They were joined by another two figures, then another four. As they drew nearer, Buffy took a breath. Spike and his impromptu army had arrived.

“Hey,” Cordelia said then, sounding annoyed. “You guys didn’t tell me there’d be that many of them.”

Willow was starting to chant then, and as Buffy squinted in the direction Ms. Calendar had disappeared in, she thought she could make out the woman doing the same.

“Uh, Buff?” Xander said then, voice quiet in the darkness. “You know how Giles vetoed my bucket idea?”

Buffy looked around at him with a frown.

“Well,” the boy pressed on, “I sort of took it on myself to swipe some buckets from the janitors’ closet just in case. You wanna swap the Super Soakers out for something a little bigger?”

She glanced back to Spike and the dozen vamps, thinking for a moment. Then, she looked back to her friend.

“You know how to get to the roof?”

* * *

Somehow, miraculously, the spell seemed to work. By the time Buffy had broken through the door leading to the roof and peered down at the vampires, she could see them trapped in some sort of shimmering blue sphere. She could hear them yelling and snarling, too. Apparently, they weren’t too happy about being upstaged.

“Oi!” Spike yelled. “Slayer! Come out and face me!”

Xander looked up from where he’d been dumping the contents of his Super Soaker into a bucket. “Looks like you’ve got an admirer, Buff.”

She rolled her eyes. “Lucky me.” She moved to dump the contents of her own Super Soaker into another bucket before hauling it up onto the ridge of the roof. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Xander grinned. “How angry do you think Snyder’s gonna be if he finds out about this?”

“I’m probably already dead,” Buffy shrugged. Then, she took a deep breath, and as loud as she could, yelled: “Now!”

The force-field was dropped, and Buffy and Xander wasted no time in dumping their buckets of holy water over the side of the roof. The splashing was accompanied by howls of pain from below, and they quickly moved to refill their buckets with their spare water. As Buffy prepared to drop a second bucket, she risked a glance over the edge of the roof. Giles and Ms. Calendar had emerged from their hiding places, as had Cordelia and Willow. Angel had abandoned his water gun and was instead pounding a vampire’s face with his fist.

It was only then that Buffy stopped, a sudden thought seizing her. Xander was halfway towards dumping his own bucket, when she grabbed at him.

“No!”

“Buff,” Xander frowned, “what are you doing?”

She stared at her friend, wide-eyed. “What if we hit Angel?”

The boy considered that for a moment, apparently not having thought of it. “Oh.” He said after a long moment. “Maybe we should have stuck with the Super Soakers after all.”

An uneasy silence settled over them, Xander apparently torn between just dumping his bucket, Angel be damned, and switching back to his gun to avoid hurting the vampire. Then, he sighed, stuck two fingers in his mouth, and whistled loudly.

That got the attention of Angel, whose eyes widened as he looked up to see the two buckets on the edge of the roof. He dove out of the way just as Buffy and Xander tipped them over the edge.

“Bloody hell!” Spike’s voice rang out, and Buffy glanced over the roof to see that the bucket had managed to douse two or three of the vamps, who were now sizzling and melting onto the ground.

But it looked like Xander’s warning for Angel had also tipped Spike off, and the bleach blond glared up at them in the dark.

“Ooh, little game of hide and seek, eh, Slayer?”

He set off at a run then, heading for the school, but was tackled by Angel, who immediately went back to punching. Apparently, that had given Cordelia an idea, or maybe she’d run out of holy water, as Buffy saw her deck a vampire across the face with the piece of brightly coloured plastic in her hands. Xander had already moved to fill up a third bucket with water, lobbing it with all his might to reach a couple of vamps who were trying to escape. It hit its mark if their screams of pain were anything to go by, and Buffy quickly moved to fill up her final bucket.

“Sod this!” they heard Spike yell, and Buffy abandoned her bucket to look over the edge at the angry vamp who was backing away. “I’m gonna get you, Slayer. Mark my words!”

Spike took off into the night then, face black and blue from the fight with Angel, and leather coat swirling behind him in a fury. A final few vampires were straggling behind, and Buffy quickly moved to finish preparing the bucket to get them. She could hear scuffling down below, and quickly hauled the bucket up. She threw it without looking, and prayed it hit its mark.

A sudden spluttering and cry of alarm filled the air, and Buffy’s eyes went wide.

“Uh, Buff?” Xander said awkwardly from beside her. “The vampires are gone.”

She swallowed, taking in the wide-eyed look on her friend’s face before risking a glance over the edge of the roof. There, glaring up at her and really rather wet, was Principal Snyder and her mother. Some way away, Cordelia and Willow were looking a little guilty, Super Soakers behind their backs, while Giles and Ms. Calendar had abandoned their water guns altogether, and were trying not to look like they’d just been involved in what could only be described as a water fight. Angel was nowhere to be seen.

“Buffy Anne Summers! Just what do you think you’re doing?”

Buffy cringed at that, knowing full well she had no answer.

“This is _exactly_ what I was telling you, Mrs Summers,” Snyder sneered loudly. “Your daughter has _no_ respect for this school. I’m telling you; any more of this behaviour, and we will have no option but to expel her!”

He strode off into the school then, and Joyce glared up at her daughter pointedly. With a sigh, Buffy looked at Xander who simply gave a small smile.

“I’ll deal with this,” he said. “Don’t want to keep your mom waiting.”

Buffy’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah.”

* * *

Unsurprisingly, the car ride home was silent. It only made Buffy feel worse, though. Maybe that was the point. Maybe her mom wanted her to suffer. It felt like hours before they pulled into Revello Drive, and Buffy silently followed her mom into the house, bracing herself for what was to come.

No sooner had the front door shut had Joyce rounded on her.

“Do you have any idea how _humiliated_ I was tonight?” Joyce asked suddenly, eyes blazing with anger. “Not only did I have to sit and listen to your principal tell me all about how you skip classes and get in fights, but then we find you on the roof of the school throwing buckets of water at people!”

“I wasn’t-”

Joyce cut her off with a warning look, and gestured at her own sodden clothing. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Buffy. Now, I don’t know what you and your friends thought you were doing, and I certainly don’t want to hear any excuses. But you are on your last chance. Principal Snyder is threatening to expel you, and honestly, right now I don’t blame him.”

Buffy swallowed thickly at that. She got why her mom thought Snyder had a point, considering what it looked like from her point of view. But still it stung hearing her say that she would agree with Buffy being expelled again.

“Now. I am going to get changed, and then you and I are going to have a talk.”

Buffy let out a sigh as her mother disappeared upstairs, moving to the sitting room to slump on the sofa. She’d made the wish so she could put things right, fix the mistakes she’d made. Yet here she was, somehow in even more trouble than she’d been in since arriving in Sunnydale. Maybe Giles was right. Maybe they couldn’t fix everything.

* * *

When Joyce returned downstairs in fresh clothes, she surveyed her daughter with a sigh, before moving to sit in the armchair opposite the couch Buffy was on.

“Buffy, do you remember the talk we had the other night?”

The talk. Of course Buffy remembered the talk. She’d sat through it twice. But she didn’t say that. Instead, she nodded.

“You said you didn’t want to be disappointed in me again.”

“So you _were_ listening.” Joyce looked away for a moment then, apparently considering what she wanted to say. “You know, I never fully understood what happened in Los Angeles. The burning down of the school, the staying out late, the acting out. And I thought- I really thought- that a fresh start would fix it all. I can’t begin to understand how difficult you found the divorce, and your father and I hate that we put you through that, but that doesn’t give you a right to act this way, Buffy. You don’t get to make things miserable for me by lashing out and fighting at school and putting your future at risk.”

“I’m not, Mom, I swear-”

But Joyce held a hand up. “We left L.A because we had to. Because you were getting into trouble at school, and making up silly excuses like how you had to fight vampires, and there was no way we could stay. But, just like I told you the other night, I can’t do all that again. We can’t do all that again. It has to stop.”

Buffy swallowed, tears welling in her eyes. She’d tried very hard to forget about telling her parents about vampires. It certainly hadn’t gone how she’d expected it to, and something about that reminder had her shaking.

“I’m not trying to disappoint you.”

Buffy’s voice was quiet and shaky, but Joyce heard it anyway. The older woman sighed.

“Oh, honey. I really hope that’s true.”

* * *

The next day at school, Buffy felt like she was wading through pudding. She really wasn’t aware of much, even as she took notes in class. Break rolled around with her barely noticing, and she let Xander and Willow steer her towards the library.

“So, how was it last night, Buff?” Xander asked as they seated themselves at the table.

Buffy shrugged. She didn’t really want to talk about it, but the concerned looks on her friends’ faces told her she didn’t really have a say in the matter.

“It sucked. I’m grounded for the next two months, and Mom gave me a whole talk about letting her down and being on my last chance before I’m kicked out of yet another school.” She clenched her jaw at that, hoping the tears welling in her eyes didn’t fall.

“W-Well, can’t Giles do something?” Willow asked then. “I mean, why can’t he explain everything to your mom?”

Buffy snorted. “Yeah, like that would work.”

It was at that point that Giles emerged from his office, a frown on his face as he took in the looks on the teens’ faces.

“Buffy,” he greeted “how are you?”

She looked up at him with a scowl. “Mom thinks I’m thirty seconds away from being kicked out of school. How was _your_ night?”

“We were just talking about how you could help,” Willow said, giving the man a bright smile. “I mean, if you could explain about Buffy being the Slayer to Mrs Summers...”

The look on Giles’s face had her trailing off then. He looked somewhere between uncomfortable and apologetic, and the look made Buffy sigh.

“W-Well, I-”

“Giles,” Buffy interrupted, sounding defeated. “It’s fine.”

The looks on everyone’s faces told Buffy they didn’t believe her for a second. Honestly, she couldn’t blame them.


	7. Chapter 7

The next few weeks saw Buffy confined mostly to her bedroom when at home, something she was really quite miserable about. Perhaps the only positive was that her mom was still letting her attend ‘homework club’ after school, apparently deciding that Giles had some sort of authority over her daughter. It meant that she at least got to hang out with Willow and Xander, and Giles was surprisingly slack on discipline, which Buffy chalked up to his feeling guilty about her grounding.

Slaying had been relatively light, too. She’d done a few patrols late at night, slipping out her window after Joyce was asleep to fulfil her duty as Slayer, but Spike seemed to be laying low and Buffy was grateful that she hadn’t altered things so much that it caused the vampire to launch an unexpected attack. She had enough to deal with without the bleach blonde getting her into even more trouble.

She knew, though, that Willow and Xander were becoming increasingly suspicious of her. While Willow seemed increasingly anxious whenever Buffy and Ms. Calendar shared an awkward conversation, Xander wanted to know about Giles’s sudden change in demeanour, the librarian following Buffy at every opportunity.

“I’m just saying,” Xander said one day as they headed to the library, “Giles has been weird with you lately. I think the parent-teacher night thing shook him up, Buff.”

“Yeah,” Willow nodded furiously, a small furrow in her brow, “I think he feels really bad about you being grounded.”

Buffy let out a sigh at that. She knew he did, he’d said as much, and he’d even tried to praise her behaviour to Joyce when she’d come to pick Buffy up in the evenings. Honestly, he was probably trying a little _too_ hard. 

“I know,” Buffy said, “but there’s nothing he can do. We can’t tell my mom about me, so...” She shrugged.

“Man,” Xander shook his head, “sucks to be you. And Giles, I guess. I know he’s all stuffy and British and all, but I think he’s worried about you. He read up on Spike, and that guy...” He shuddered. “He’s killed two Slayers.”

“I know,” Buffy said again, refusing to meet her friends’ eyes. “It’s fine, though. I have it under control.”

She ignored their concerned and slightly sceptical looks. What could she say? That Giles was hovering not just because of Spike and the guilt of her being grounded, but also because she’d come from the future and they were trying to stop people from being killed? He’d wrangled himself a spot as a somewhat-reluctant chaperone on the school’s visit to the Natural History Museum so as to stop the Inca Princess from coming back to life and trying to suck face with Xander. He’d phoned in an anonymous tip about bodies under the Delta Zeta Kappa fraternity at Crestwood College. He’d patrolled on several nights so that Buffy didn’t have to sneak out of the house and risk getting in more trouble with Joyce.

But Giles wasn’t the only adult not-so-subtly keeping an eye on her. It didn't surprise the teenagers when they entered the library that Ms. Calendar was there, tapping away at a computer set up at the table. She looked up as they entered, an awkward smile spreading across her face.

“Hi, Ms. Calendar,” Willow greeted happily, already moving for the table.

Xander and Buffy followed.

“Let me guess,” the boy said to the computer science teacher as he sat at the end chair, “Giles has screwed up the computer again?”

“I didn’t ‘screw it up’,” Giles said indignantly, emerging from his office. “It broke on its own.”

The three teens looked to Ms. Calendar then, who was pursing her lips in an effort not to laugh. 

“Sure, if you pressing the wrong button and deleting half of the library catalogue is entirely the computer’s fault.”

Buffy and Willow exchanged an amused look at that, Willow taking the seat between Xander and Ms. Calendar while Buffy sat opposite Willow. Giles was doing his best to look unconcerned by what Ms. Calendar had revealed.

“If they don’t want people accidentally deleting things, they shouldn’t make it so easy.” He sniffed, and disappeared back into his office.

Buffy watched her Watcher go, a smirk on her face as she set her books down and retrieved a pad and pen from her bag. As the three teenagers set to work on their homework, all was quiet for several long moments, the only noises the click of Ms. Calendar’s keyboard and the sounds of pages being turned in the books.

“Hey, Buff,” Xander said then, looking up from his English homework, “what are you doing for Halloween?”

Buffy blinked, and frowned at her friend. “Nothing. Grounded, remember?”

He seemed to falter at that, floundering for a moment. “Well, yeah, but... But it’s Halloween! Candy!”

“ _Grounded_ ,” Buffy repeated, pointing to herself as she spoke. She sighed then. “I was gonna watch movies. Giles says that Halloween’s the one night a year I don’t have to patrol. Something about vampires and demons avoiding it.”

“Really?” Willow frowned in surprise. “But Halloween’s... Halloween! It’s all about spooky, a-and scary, a-and demon-y!”

“It’s too commercialised,” Ms. Calendar spoke up then, not looking up from the computer screen. “No self-respecting demon would be caught dead out on Halloween.” She looked up then, seeing all three teenagers staring at her, and she realised what she’d said. “Figuratively speaking, of course.”

“Uh huh,” Xander said, sounding a little stunned. “So. Even vampires get a night off? Who’d have thought?”

“But will Spike?” Willow asked. “I mean, he seems a bit... Different. And he’s dangerous!”

Buffy let out a sigh. “Will, it’s fine. Giles and I have it all under control. It’s going to be a trouble-free, candy-filled Halloween, I swear.”

Xander nodded slowly. “Yeah, usually when people say stuff like that in movies, the complete opposite happens.”

“It won’t,” Buffy insisted. “There’s one or two things to keep an eye on, sure, but I have it handled. I swear.” She gave them what she hoped was a bright smile then. “Besides, it’s been, like, super dead on patrol. Seriously. Either all the vampires and demons are playing a giant game of hide and seek with me, or we’ve hit a quiet patch. Honestly, I’m hoping for the latter.”

She turned her attention back to her homework then, hoping that her friends would do the same. Soon enough, the library was silent again; the only noises that of pages being turned and keys being hit on the keyboard.

“Does Giles know about how quiet patrol’s been?” Willow asked suddenly.

Buffy let out a quiet sigh, taking a moment to just breathe before answering. “Yes, Will. He’s been patrolling some nights so Mom has less chance of catching me sneaking out.”

“I-It’s just, it’s been quiet for weeks now,” Willow continued, looking anxious. “A-And not just on patrol! I mean, ever since Parent-Teacher Night, there’s not really been anything for me and Xander to do...” She flushed red, then, and continued stammering. “Not, not that that’s bad! Less monsters equals good, right?”

Beside her, Xander was nodding furiously, wide-eyed. Across the room, Giles emerged from his office, leaning against the doorframe and watching the unfolding conversation with a small frown.

“But I just mean, uh, that there’s been _nothing_. Not even a little bit of research! And Xander and I, we’re, we’re worried. It could mean something bad.”

“And big,” Xander chimed in. “Don’t forget big.”

It was Willow who nodded then. “Yeah. Bad and big. You know, like the Master, or, or, the Hellmouth opening, or something.”

Beside Willow, Ms. Calendar had gone very still and very tense, and was watching Buffy carefully. Across the room, Giles was doing the same. Buffy herself swallowed thickly, heart pounding as she grappled for a response to her friends’ concerns.

“Well, uh, what can I say?” she said then, forcing a weak smile. “It’s just one of those months. Yay, no monsters. But, um, I, I don’t really know what to tell you...” She shot a panicked glance to the two adults. 

“We just want to help, Buffy,” Willow said then, sounding sad.

“Yeah,” Xander agreed. “We don’t want you thinking you have to keep us out of this, or anything. We get that we’re not, you know, _like you_ , but we can still help. Uh, with research and, uh, stakes! I can whittle stakes! And I can do donut runs. And Willow was pretty helpful with that spell against Spike!”

Buffy was feeling faintly sick. She’d known that her friends had been growing suspicious, but did they really think she was just cutting them out of everything? Well, she supposed she was, in a way, by not telling them what she knew or how she was stopping things before they happened. But if she told them, she’d have to explain why she’d made the wish-

“Well, I for one think that a lack of demonic activity shows us that Buffy’s doing very well,” Giles spoke up suddenly from his office doorway. “Evidently she’s staying on top of the demon population, keeping their numbers down, and that’s exactly what she is meant to be doing.”

Ms. Calendar, apparently following Giles’s lead, nodded. “It also means that nobody’s trying to mess with the Hellmouth. Maybe word got out about Buffy facing down the Master?”  


Willow and Xander seemed to consider that for a moment, looking to one another for support.

“I suppose so,” Willow conceded after a long pause.

“So what? Buffy defeated the Master and now demons are scared of her?” Xander asked.

Giles shrugged. “ The Master was hundreds of years old, and was revered by his followers. And Buffy defeated him not once but twice.”

Xander nodded slowly at that. “Cool.” He stood, glowering down at his books as he did so. “I hate Shakespeare, I’m going on a donut run. Anyone want anything?”

Buffy blinked, as Willow eagerly gave her order, and before she knew it she was watching Xander disappear out the library doors. Already, Willow had turned back to her homework, so the Slayer tried to do the same. But even as she did, a little voice at the back of her head reminded her that there was only so much time before she had to tell her friends what was going on. And she would. Soon. Just as soon as she figured out how to tell them...

* * *

Being forced to sign up for the Halloween trick-or-treat programme had somehow, inexplicably, slipped Buffy’s mind. It wasn’t until Snyder was shoving a clipboard under her nose that she remembered it.

“Oh, Principal Snyder,” she said, hoping she looked and sounded apologetic enough, “I’d love to but, see, I’m still grounded. You know, because of the water guns on Parent-Teacher Night?”

“I recall,” Snyder responded coolly, “but frankly I don’t care.”

“W-Well,” Buffy pressed on, “it’s just that my mother doesn’t want me going out, like, _at all_. For any reason. And while I’m sure taking kids trick-or-treating is a _very_ good cause, my mom’s made it very clear that there are no exceptions.”

Snyder growled a little, and shoved the clipboard towards Willow instead, eyes never leaving Buffy’s. “Listen here, Summers. As I have already told your mother, you’re one step away from expulsion. Do you really want to be arguing with me about this?”

“No,” Buffy shook her head. “But like I said, I’m _grounded_. My mom doesn’t want me out of the house unless it’s for school, and while this _is_ school-adjacent, it’s also trick-or-treating, and I can’t just sign up for it without talking to her about it-”

Snyder snatched the clipboard from Willow then, who’d barely finished reluctantly signing her name, and thrust it instead at Xander, who sighed and took it. When Xander had finished signing it, Snyder took it back, glared at Buffy for a long moment, and then clenched his jaw.

“Fine.” He glared. “You’re off the hook this time, Summers, but it won’t happen again. I don’t particularly want you corrupting the children anyway.” Then, he spun on his heel and stalked off.

Willow, Buffy, and Xander watched him go.

“Oh, man,” Xander sighed. “I wish _I_ was grounded.”

* * *

That afternoon, Willow and Xander set off to reluctantly find Halloween costumes for trick-or-treating, leaving Buffy behind in the library.

“Oh! I wouldn’t go to that new place, though,” Buffy told them just before they left the library. “Apparently it sucks. And the guy’s a creep.”

Giles nearly choked on a mouthful of tea at that fully aware of exactly who Buffy was talking about, thanks to the list of upcoming events she’d given him. Meanwhile, Willow and Xander exchanged slightly confused looks. 

“Ok,” Willow said with a small frown. “Party Town it is.”

The pair left then, leaving Buffy and Giles alone.

“Have you had a chance to swing by Ethan’s place yet?” Buffy asked, ignoring her French homework in favour of quizzing her Watcher.

“I did go by the other evening, but he wasn’t there,” Giles frowned. “I’m going back this evening. It’s close to Halloween now, so knowing Ethan he’s lurking about getting things ready for his grand plan.”

Buffy shivered, remembering exactly what that grand plan was. “Sorry I can’t be any more help, but I wasn’t even there when you stopped him. And you weren’t exactly forthcoming about how you stopped him.”

The Watcher sighed. “Knowing Ethan it’s something tacky and flashy. And knowing Ethan, I can probably beat it out of him.” He looked to the clock on the wall. “Is your mother coming by to pick you up?”

Buffy pouted. “When is she not?”

“I am sorry, Buffy. If there was a way to explain it all to your mother, to make things a little easier on you...” He pulled his glasses off, polishing them on his handkerchief before slipping them back on. “If I had my way, I would simply sit your mother down and explain it all to her tonight. But it isn’t that simple, and the Council certainly wouldn’t like it.”

“I’m not sure my mom would listen, anyway,” Buffy shrugged sadly. “I mean, it’s not like I didn’t try to tell her before.”

That made Giles frown again. “You did?” He stood, hurrying to his office and returning with a piece of paper. “It’s not on the list. When did you talk to her about it? Was it after Angel...?”

“No.” Buffy shifted uncomfortably in her seat, avoiding Giles’s gaze. “It was before Sunnydale.”

Giles stared for a long moment, before slowly sinking into his recently-vacated chair. “Oh.”

“Yeah. ‘Oh’.” The teenager sighed. “Let’s just say it didn’t go well.”

“She wouldn’t listen?”

Buffy snorted. “Oh, she listened. She listened a lot. So did my dad. Then they sent me to a psych ward for evaluation.”

“Buffy...”

But the teenager shrugged and waved off his concern. “It’s fine. It’s done. I learned to keep my mouth shut about vampires and stuff around my parents and they let me out.”

Giles looked pained at that, and Buffy realised that if she wanted to avoid a long, drawn-out conversation, she’d have to change the topic fast.

“Anyway, how are things with you and Ms. Calendar? You guys are being a bit... I don’t know, weird?”

“Buffy,” Giles sighed, “Ms. Calendar and I are fine. And it’s none of your business. We’re, we’re figuring things out and I would be grateful if you could respect that.”

She surveyed her Watcher for a long moment. “So I didn’t mess anything up? Because you guys have been so weird that even Xander and Willow were commenting on it. And I just wondered if, maybe, I’d messed things up by telling you who Ms. Calendar really is, or, or-”

“We’re fine,” Giles repeated, a slightly amused smile on his face. “As I said, we’re simply trying to figure things out. I, I understand that things might be going a little different to how you remember them going, and I’m touched by your concern, but please just let Jenny and I figure this out for ourselves.”

Buffy smirked a little at that. “Oh, you and _Jenny_.” She nodded as he flushed in embarrassment. “Got it.”

That earned her an eye-roll. “I believe you have French homework to be getting on with, don’t you?”

“And I believe you have Ethan to stop,” the Slayer countered. “So. How are you going to do that?”

* * *

“I’m just saying, Giles, last time he escaped! A-And showed up again for the whole Eyghon thing! So maybe I _should_ go with you!”

“Buffy, you’re grounded, remember?” Giles pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shut against the growing headache in his skull. “And besides, I have a horrible feeling Eyghon will be coming regardless of whether or not Ethan’s around. A-And that's a whole other issue for us to contend with that I would rather not think about at this juncture. Please just let me handle Ethan?”

“But two against one is better than one against one! I mean, what about strength in numbers?”

Giles let out a huff, an annoyed look on his face that told Buffy that he knew she was right.

“Look, I’ll leave Ethan to you, I’ll just be... the back-up! I’m just there to help in case he tries to run, or something. Giles, _please_. I’m going mad stuck in my room all night, I just want to actually get out and _do_ something.”

“Buffy, there’s plenty you can do,” Giles said, though he didn’t sound entirely convincing. “I-I mean, you could start coming up with a plan for dealing with Spike, for instance. Or think on how you’re going to explain all of this to Willow and Xander, perhaps?”

“Look, I’m going to do all those things, Giles, but they don’t have to be tonight! But we have to deal with Ethan fast, everything else can wait.”

“What about Spike? Should we not move now when he perhaps least expects it? You do know where he’s staying?”

“Hey!” Buffy frowned. “You just said I couldn’t come fight Ethan with you because I’m grounded. How come you want me to go fight Spike, then?”

Giles at least had the decency to look sheepish at that. “Ethan is my responsibility, Buffy. And, quite frankly, I don’t quite know how I’ll react to seeing him again. I know that you’re aware of my past, but I don’t... I would rather you didn’t see me like that.”

“What? Like a person?” Buffy arched an eyebrow. “You do know that the first time I really realised you were a person was after the whole Eyghon thing, right? Like, before that you were Giles, my Watcher. And you’d lecture me about training and patrol and my duty and stuff, and I just sort of thought that’s what you were always like. And then I find out that you were a teenager and a rebel, and sure, it was weird. But it was also... Nice.” 

She shrugged, eyes skittering away from his. “Suddenly I didn’t feel like such a screw-up if things didn’t go quite according to plan, or I couldn’t get something in training, because suddenly I knew you weren’t some stuffy Watcher who’d never done anything wrong in his life. I mean, that feeling sort of went away after the whole Angel thing, but it was nice while it lasted.”

Across the table, Giles blinked, gaze softening a little. “I... I hadn’t thought of it that way,” he admitted softly. “I just... Some of the choices I made when I was younger really weren’t the best, Buffy. And I would much rather you didn’t see that side of me. But, I understand what you mean.” He paused for a moment, considering. “You know Jenny told me about what you said to her. About how you feel like you disappoint me.”

Buffy’s cheeks flamed red at that. “Oh.”

“You don’t, you know. Disappoint me. You never could.”

The teenager swallowed thickly. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not?” Giles countered. “It’s true.”

“No it’s not. I mean, sure, it _could_ be true. But what if you say that now and in five years’ time I turn around and do something absolutely awful?”

“You might not.”

“But I might. And then what? Not only have I done something awful and let you down, but I’ve broken the trust you had in me. I- I don’t want that.” She shook her head furiously.

“Buffy,” Giles sighed, “I cannot begin to imagine what you went through after Angel lost his soul, and I can’t comment on things I don’t know anything about. But I know you, a-and I know how hard you work, and how much you care about others. Now, I- I cannot comment on the future, but I am telling you right here and now, that you are _not_ a disappointment to me. Am I clear?”

The teenager managed a nod at that, eyes a little damp and a small, grateful smile on her face. Giles smiled back softly, and a moment of quiet calm took over the room. It was short-lived however, as the library doors opened and Joyce appeared in the doorway. 

“Good evening, Mr Giles,” she greeted with a polite smile before looking to Buffy. “Buffy, are you ready to go?”

The girl looked to Giles, who simply gave her a look in return, and she began gathering her school things. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

As Buffy followed her mom from the library, she spared a glance back at her Watcher, but he was already engrossed in a book. She just hoped she hadn’t misinterpreted his look.

* * *

Predictably, Buffy was sent to her room after dinner, and it was a little before eight that she climbed out her bedroom window and slid off the roof. It was dark already, and there weren’t too many people out considering Sunnydale wasn’t exactly safe at night, but there were still a few people wandering the streets. Buffy ignored them, though, making her way towards Maple Court. When she finally reached Ethan’s store, she saw Giles waiting patiently outside.

“I _am_ meant to be here, right?” she asked in way of greeting.

“Yes, but it would be too late if you weren’t,” Giles responded dryly. Then, he looked to the store. “Are you ready?”

Buffy arched an eyebrow. “Are you?”

Giles heaved out a sigh at that, and moved towards the store. The light was on inside, the ‘open’ sign still showing in the window, and Giles pushed the door open.

“Sorry, we’re just about to cl-” Ethan emerged from the back of the store, freezing when he saw Giles. A grin spread across his face. “Ripper. How lovely of you to pop by. Can I interest you in a costume, perhaps?”

“No thank you,” Giles said, voice a little strained as he tried to keep his anger in check.

“Pity,” Ethan said, “you’d look quite fetching in fishnets.” His eyes alighted on Buffy then, and he eyed her with a frown. “And what about your young friend? I have a quite lovely dress-”

“Ethan,” Giles interrupted then, voice hard, “just leave.”

The other man considered that for a long moment, before shaking his head. “I don’t think I will.”

Buffy stepped forward, fists clenched. “Then we’ll have to make you.”

Ethan just let out an amused chuckle at that. “Oh, Rupert, your Slayer is quite adorable.” He looked back to Giles, smile fading and eyes growing hard. “Does she know what you are? What you’ve done?”

Giles ignored his questions, fixing Ethan with his own hard stare. “We know all about the little stunt you’re planning for Halloween, Ethan. We’re giving you one chance. Leave.”

“Or what? You’ll have your Slayer beat me up?”

“Maybe.” Giles shrugged. “Or maybe I’ll do it myself.”

There was a faint flash of fear in Ethan’s eyes at that, but it was gone a moment later, and he instead smirked. “Promises, promises.” He moved to lean against the counter, seemingly quite calm and conversational. “You know, Ripper, I’m a little upset you don’t want to talk more about my Halloween spectacular.” He paused, cocked his head to one side. “Spook-tacular, if you will.” He flashed them a grin. “I mean, I don’t wish to blow my own trumpet, but it’s genius. The very embodiment of ‘be careful what you wish for’.”

Buffy flinched at that, drawing Ethan’s gaze to her for a moment before Giles demanded his attention.

“It’s sick, brutal, and it harms the innocent. There’s no way we’re letting you go ahead with it.”

Ethan snorted. “Oh, and we all know that you are the champion of innocents and all things pure and good, Rupert. It’s quite a little act you’ve got going here, old man.”

Giles straightened at that. “It’s no act. It’s who I am.”

“Who you are?” Ethan arched an eyebrow. “The Watcher, snivelling, tweed-clad guardian of the Slayer and her kin? I think not. I know who you are, Rupert, and I know what you’re capable of.” He looked to Buffy again, considering. “Does she have any idea where you come from? Your precious Slayer, looking to you for guidance and support.”

“I know more than you think,” Buffy ground out then, surprising Ethan. “I know about Giles’s past, and Eyghon. He told me himself. And I don’t care.”

A heavy silence settled over the trio then as Ethan digested that information. 

“Well, well,” he said at last, looking back to his old friend. “Colour me surprised.”

“How were you going to carry out the spell on Halloween, Ethan?” Giles asked instead.

“Why would I tell you that?” Ethan asked. “It’s much more fun to watch you figure it out.”

Then, before Buffy was entirely aware of what was happening, Giles had crossed the room to Ethan and punched him in the face. Ethan fell against the counter, blood trickling from his nose, and he tenderly dabbed at the blood.

“Looks like you haven’t lost your touch, Rip.”

Giles didn’t answer. Instead, he hauled Ethan up by the front of his shirt and dragged him towards a room at the back of the store. Buffy followed, but not after flipping the store sign round to ‘closed’. As she ducked through the curtain, she saw that it was a small store room, and Giles had shoved Ethan against one wall.

“Now,” Giles growled, voice low and threatening, “I’ll ask again. How were you going to carry out the spell?”

Ethan said nothing, but his gaze involuntarily flickered to a fabric-covered item up on a shelf. Buffy moved for it, but Giles shook his head.

“Come hold Ethan. Don’t let him move.”

Buffy did as she was told, and Giles moved for the item instead.

“You know,” Ethan said quite conversationally to Buffy, “Ripper was really quite wild in his youth. You want to know why we called him Ripper?”

“Not particularly,” Buffy said with a shrug.

Ethan pressed on, regardless. “Your precious little Watcher wasn’t the golden child you probably think he is. Me and him, we got up to a lot of things in our day, most of them bad. He’s told you about Eyghon? About what happened?”

Buffy’s jaw was tight, and a glance over her shoulders told her Giles was tense too. But he kept his gaze fixed on the item he’d uncovered.

“What’s that?” Buffy asked.

“Janus. Roman mythical god,” Giles answered. “It represents the division of self.” He looked up, met Ethan’s gaze, and unceremoniously dropped it onto the floor, where it shattered. “Well, it _did_.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “How mature.”

“Looks like it divided itself,” Buffy said, surveying the shattered pieces of the idol. Then, she turned back to Ethan. “Wanna go pack your bags now?”

Ethan glared down at her. “He’s a murderer, you know. Your beloved Watcher.”

“Then so are you,” Buffy shrugged. “Either it was an accident and nobody was responsible, or it was deliberate and you all had a hand in it. I know what happened to your friend. I know he died because you were using magic.” She looked to Giles then. He was staring at the shattered remnants of the Janus statue, not looking at her. “But we can’t save everybody all the time.” She looked back to Ethan. “It sucks, but that’s how it is. No matter how much we wish otherwise.” 

Buffy took a step away from Ethan then, ignoring the surprised look on the man’s face even as she felt Giles’s gaze on her.

“I’m sorry about your friend. Now, go pack your bags and get out of my town.”

She turned on her heel, looking to Giles, who was staring at her with wide, slightly damp eyes, before she headed for the front door. Giles fell into step behind her. Neither of them bothered to check to see if Ethan would listen to them. He’d probably be back anyway.


End file.
